In the Manger: Love
Luke 2:1-20
Good morning everyone-welcome to those who are listening online.
We have lite all 4 Advent candles as we celebrate the final Sunday of Advent.
Hope, peace, joy and this morning looking at God’s great love for us.
Tonight Christmas Eve will come in wither we are ready or not. If you do not have all the presents bought, all the food prepared, all your presents wrapped- you are in for a long night.
The one thing you cannot do, the one thing you or I had nothing to do with was we cannot save ourselves. We are the recipients of His great love.
We just part of the Christmas story of the great love that God the Father had for us in sending His Son Jesus here for us.
Sinners in need of a savior- a perfect God willing to come for sinful mankind.
If Jesus never came, He could have never went to the cross, and if He never went to the cross, we could not experience salvation for our sins.
You cannot have one without the other.
The plan of Almighty God and the love that He has for us cannot be put into just words, it was shown by His actions.
Paul Trip says
“Allow yourself to be confronted by the Christmas story’s message of desperate need. It is the only explanation of why Jesus had to come.”
Love came down from heaven for you and I
The plan of God was to use a willing Mary and Joseph.
Joseph of the bloodline of David according to prophecy.
Mary a virgin so that it would be an immaculate conception-
Conception not brought by two humans procreated but by the virgin birth where Jesus was supernaturally conceived in the womb by the power of the Holy Spirit and born without sin.
God had a plan and the plan was perfect and the plan has shown His great love for mankind.
To be in Bethlehem at the perfect time for the census
To experience no room in the inn
To the angels appearing before the shepherds.
God’s love and His plan of redemption.
If you think that was a coincidence, then you probably believe that we evolved by freak chance of evolution instead of creation by an all powerful God who cares, loves, and desires to be a part of our lives..
God’s plan played out to shepherds- God what were you thinking?
The lowest on the food chain of the time.
The ones that the religious hated because they were unclean to even step foot into the great temples.
He chooses them, “those people” to show the greatness of God coming to earth.
For them to be able to be in their fields when all heaven breaks out in song and praise for the coming King!
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
The highest heaven! Heavenly angels begin praising God for putting His plan in action!
And the favor of God rested on the shepherds- ones the world despised, the unlikely choice by the well to do! The peasants by the world’s standard had found favor with God!
What did the shepherds do once they experienced these things with God?
Where life suddenly changed and they had to respond one way or another
Let’s go see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.
They hurried off and found baby Jesus!
They found the baby lying in a manger just like the angels said- and they worshiped Him! They experienced Him for themselves.
“When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child.”
They found Jesus and they spread the good news!
You will never be able to say you don’t know what to do with Jesus or I do not know what my purpose is- it is to share the good news!
Experience the love of God and go tell it on the mountains that Jesus Christ is Lord!
They were never the same again! You cannot experience God and be the same! His love is unending and all powerful!
Illustration
A True Definition of Love
Too many people believe and sometimes teach that love is a feeling or an emotion. Yes, feelings and emotions are involved in love but the greatest part of love is action oriented.
Love is a verb (what you do) more than a noun (a feeling).
Many marriages, even among Christians, are failing because they value feelings over actions.
I have counseled couples who say that they don’t feel the love that they once did for their mate. They fell “out of love” You fall out of love by choice.
We can fall out of bed by accident but out of love is a choice.
Imagine if Christ, just before the cross, went to the garden and thought; I hate this feeling, I don’t feel like doing this, therefore I will base my decision upon what I feel. If that had happened, we’d all be hopelessly doomed.
The good news, of course, is that Jesus resisted and fought back His feelings and even though He prayed three times to have the cup removed.
He was more interested in doing the will of the Father than what He felt like doing…thankfully.
Jesus displayed His love by willingly going to the cross and dying for sinners and those of us who were still His enemies and desperately wicked (Rom 5:8, 10).
So we must preach that love is not dependent upon feelings and emotions because feelings are one of the shallowest and most unreliable of all human emotions. Instead, we must emphasize that love is a choice more than a feeling because feelings are subjective while love is objectively displayed in actions.
The bottom line is that love is what a person chooses to do, not what a person chooses to feel. God so loved the world because He felt like it? Yes, He does love us but that love required action and that included the supreme sacrifice of His only Son’s life. That was the ultimate love in action.
In that manger is a God who loves us and willing not because He had to but wanted to redeem us and have a relationship that goes far more than a casual once in a while but wanting to dwell with us.
They were amazed at the words of the shepherds.
They followed Jesus and were amazed at the words of boy Jesus.
They followed adult Jesus and were amazed at His teachings
Following Jesus is just amazing!
Joy to the world, the Lord has come! Let earth receive her king! Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing!
He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove. The glories of His righteousness and wonders of his love! Amen!
This morning, let’s gather some truths from that little baby Jesus in the manger and what Love that He has shown to each of us.
God’s love is unconditional
He did not have to come, He choose to come to mankind. He came to the least so that no one could boast or believe they could have redemption without Him.
“He brought good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”
He came to redeem all mankind.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith- this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God- not by works, so that no one can boast.”
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever (all) would believe, would not perish but have everlasting life.”
You love by faith! Faith in the promises of God that God will keep His Word. The Agape Love of God-
His love is patient, kind, and never gives up on you even when you give up on yourself.
His love is unconditional and undeserved.
He loves you in spite of you and your weaknesses.
He loves you so that you have a way to have eternal life.
He loves you so much that He came that you might have eternal life and abundant life here.
His love is not based upon performance. It is based upon what He has done- while yet you were a sinner, Christ came and Christ died for you.
Coming in that dirty manger is just the beginning of him showing His love for you and me.
We see it from the manger to the cross and you are experiencing it right now because I believe He is speaking to people even right now-
We see His love recorded in Luke 15- the prodigal son-
The son went his own way and found his own way was not working, seeing that he was willing to eat with the pigs but God had a better way if only he returned to him.
That son did not even get a chance to ask His Father because his Father met him on the road of return and opened up his arms, put the family ring on his finger, and clothed him with the righteousness of God.
He did not clean himself up, the glorious Father brought him clean clothes and openly welcomed him back into the family as if he never left.
That is God’s love for us church! We make it works, but his love never fails, and when we seek him out, he welcomes us back and sets us back on track.
We do not have to do it first, he already made the first move toward us.
Faith, Hope, Love… Apostle Paul reminds us that the greatest gift is Love!
God’s love reaches beyond our circumstances
Jesus had to come! There was no other way to touch mankind with His love.
God has to sometimes show us tough love but it doesn’t change the fact that He loves us.
The early church faced persecution, injustice, prejudice, racial tension, the fight between right and wrong as determined by almighty God. Just like we do today!
Apostle Paul to the persecuted church Romans 8:38-39
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God’s love if we are honest is beyond our comprehension to grasp with our finite minds, but it is not beyond our ability to experience with the Lord. (Repeat)
This child (Jesus) the scriptures say will cause the falling and raising of many in Israel. Why?
Because some will accept Him and some won’t.
He loves all but some by their own choice will not accept the purpose of God Himself coming-
Will you this morning receive this Jesus as the savior of the world?
Will you personally engage His love and desire to give your messy life to Him and let Him do something amazing?
Simeon the priest who wanted and waited to see the Christ child responds after seeing Him with these words-
“Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying; “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations; light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
He is for all People! He is waiting for us to respond today.
Take the step of love today- with it comes faith, hope and love of God.
Would you this morning by pure faith, look into that manger and see a God who loves you?
Take it personal because it is- God loves you!
And reach out to Him and allow Him to change your life forever!
If you have never done that, today would be a great time to let Him in.
If you have been struggling- if you have walked away, if you have been disobedient,
He is waiting with open arms to forgive and embrace you right where you are at and take and walk with you to where your need to be- A God who walks with us and never will forsake us- he is speaking to us this morning- that is a fact. Will you respond?
“Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels”
He could have but He didn’t because He loves us that much! You and I are why He came. Let’s thank Him, Praise Him, Remember Him, Serve Him, and give Him our lives!
Altar call-
