Title: “Micah 5:2 The Incarnation and Birth of Jesus” Scripture: Micah 5:2
Type: Christmas Eve Where: GNBC 12/24/24
Intro: I Tim. 3:15 declares that the church is “the pillar and foundation of the truth.” If you notice we don’t sing “Jingle Bells” or “The 12 Days…” here. We sing “carols” about the most amazing event in history…the incarnation of God’s Son. I am not quite sure how in our society the Son of GOD has had to share top billing on His own birthday with a fashion and calorically challenged figment of Western culture’s imagination. I know that the story of Santa is loosely rooted in a historical figure and part of our Western culture, and that his appeal to parents is so they can leverage his appeal in an attempt to get temporary good behavior from their children. In many ways it’s a harmless myth, however, I have an even more fantastic story we should tell our children…and every word of it is true…that on Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Son of God who descended from heaven to earth, born a supernatural birth in a cattle shed, lived a sinless life and died a substitutionary death, and 3 days later raised bodily from the dead. And one of the greatest prophesies of this amazing event takes place in this one verse in OT book of Micah.
Prop: Tonight we’ll examine 4 important questions about Xst’s incarnation this one verse answers.
BG: Who was this prophet Micah? He came from near the border with Philistia, and preached during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (About 700 BC). He was thus a contemporary of Isaiah and Hosea. His prophecies are against both Israel & Judah. He prophesies both nation’s capture and the people’s restoration. The most important prophecy was the coming and reign of Messiah. Which we see tonight.
Prop: Let’s examine 4 important questions regarding Xst’s Incarnation and Birth in Micah 5:2.
1st Question: Who Sent Christ Forth? (“From you one will come forth from Thee”)
A. Micah 5:2 Informs us Xst Came forth by the Authority, Plan, and Purpose of God the Father.
1. I think the average Christian cannot comprehend the heart of Jehovah, when God the Father equipped the Son for this great cause of mercy. The Son left the Father’s Bosom. Illust: He was not a phantom. He was not an apparition. He was not a ghost. He took a human body which had the exact same biochemical composition as yours and mine. He had his own DNA. He had the same anatomy as any other human being, the same physiology. He had the same central nervous system; therefore, he had the same sensitivity to pain. His mother made the exact same contribution to Christ as her Son as any other human mother makes to the genetic input of her child; 50 percent of his chromosomes came from Mary, and 50 percent of the chromosomes were imparted miraculously in the creative act of the virgin conception
2. The Father pours all that He is by nature into the Son. In other words, the Father and the Son are identical in terms of the divine nature. Both (and Spirit) possess the full set of attributes that make God, God. The Son is sent by the Father, but this sending does not make the Son in any way inferior to the Father. 100% equal in essence!
B. It was the Heart of the Father that Equipped the Son for His Cause of Mercy.
1. The Father sent the Son. Every step of His life, every trial and temptation He experienced was part and parcel of the eternal, approving plan of the Father. When we speak of the incarnation, Jesus taking on flesh, we are speaking of an event that took place in time. At a particular point in history, God the Son—2nd Person of Holy Trinity— took on a human nature without subtracting from Himself any of His divine attributes (John 1:1–14). In Him the whole fullness of deity is pleased to dwell, and this will be so for all eternity (Col. 1:19–20; Heb. 13:8).
2. Illust: Keith Hartsell of Wheaton, Illinois, was driving with a friend of his when he noticed that his friend's cell phone was locked with an unusual password -- pro nobis. Keith asked him what it meant and why he chose that for a password. Keith's friend told Latin and it meant "For Us," and then he suddenly started choking up. Keith thought, "Why would those two Latin words cause so much emotion?" His friend composed himself and explained went thru time of emotional pain and found true healing when he learned that God is "for us" – pro nobis. Keith's friend said that after his parents' divorce, he entered a season of depression, contemplated suicide, when he assumed that God didn't care or that God had given up on him. But he finally found hope through those two simple words -- pro nobis (for us).
C. Applic: God the Father is so much “for us” that He sent His Son “for us”.
2nd Question: Where Was Christ Sent?
A. Christ was sent to Bethlehem. What was Bethlehem’s History?
1. Bethlehem’s History was important to the coming of the Christ.
a. Although Jerusalem and Mt. Zion was the shining star of Judah, Bethlehem, Bethlehem held the emotional attachment to the Jews for there Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel had died (Gen. 35:16) As she died, she named her son “Benoni” “son of my sorrow/pain.” Yet his grief-stricken father changed the infant’s name to “Benjamin” or “son of my right hand.”
b. Illust: When our Savior was born and taken to the temple for dedication, it was the elderly prophet Simeon who said: ““This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him.” (Lk. 2:34) That opposition would intensify when Jesus became an adult, so much so that he would be crucified and that Mary’s own heart would according to v. 35 would be pierced with sorrow as with a sword over her Son. 33yrs. later as she stood near the foot of Calvary’s Cross Jesus would be the “Son of her sorrow” as she watched Him die.
2. God the Father, however, Called Jesus “Benjamin” or “Son of My right hand.”
a. Ps. 110:1 stated: “The Lord says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The psalmist tells us that Jesus sat at the Father’s right hand before He came to earth in the incarnation.
b. Several NT verses inform us that this is the Savior’s position today! Hebrews 1:3 tells us: “… After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” Although his death caused Mary pain and sorrow, Jesus Christ was and is “The Son of the Father’s Right Hand.”
B. There is another important Event in Bethlehem’s History that Pointed to Christ.
1. IN the book of Ruth we are introduced to a woman named “Naomi”.
a. “Naomi” meant “pleasant or sweetness” however, in the midst of a terrible famine her family leaves Bethlehem (House of Bread) for Moab. There she loses husband and both of her sons and in 1:20 when she and her daughter in law returns to Bethlehem she declares: “Don’t call me Naomi,” she told them. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has made my life very bitter.” In that small book we meet Ruth, the heroine, a Moabitess who attaches herself to Naomi.
b. There in Bethlehem, God would work His sovereign will as Boaz, the kinsman redeemer, would redeem the land and marry the widow Ruth. From this union would come the great-great grandson, King David! With David Bethlehem would become Israel’s Royal City! The city of Kings! The City of David! The City of King Jesus who would be Savior of both Jew and Gentile alike as we read in Rom. 10:12: “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.”
C. What was Bethlehem’s Name?
1. Bethlehem’s name was two-fold. “Bethlehem” meant “House of bread” and Ephratah meant “fruitfulness”. Jesus proclaimed that He was “The Bread of Life” (John 6:35) ““I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” in John 6:35 The “Bread of Life” was born in the “House of Bread”
2. The Bread of Heaven, made of the bruised body of our Lord Jesus and baked in the oven of His sufferings, is where we find satisfaction for your soul.! There is no food like Jesus to the despondent soul or to the confident Christian! He satisfies all who come to Him regardless of race or class. Bethlehem, however, is also called, “the house of war” because Christ is to an individual either “the house of bread,” or else, “the house of war.” While He is food to the righteous, He causes war to the wicked, according to His own words, “think not that I am come to send peace on the earth; I am not come to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man against his father, the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” And now for that word Ephratah. That was the old name of the village. It’s name meant “fruitfulness,” or, “abundance.” It is fitting that Jesus was born in the house of fruitfulness, for where comes my fruitfulness and your fruitfulness but from the Jesus of Bethlehem? Do you know Jesus as bread of life or war for soul? Friend the best this world has to offer leaves our souls famished. Feed on Him Who is the “Bread of life.”
D. What was Bethlehem’s Position?
1. Micah says Bethlehem was “little among the clans of Judah”
a. Bethlehem was no Jerusalem. No swelling population. No ornate temple. No regal homes of the rich and royal. Bethlehem was no Hebron. It was no Caesarea. Herod had no home in Bethlehem.
b. Friend, Jesus was born among the humble. He goes about the humble. He befriends the humble. “God is opposed to the proud but He gives grace to the humble.” (Ja. 4:6) Illust: In my life I have seen the graves and tombstones of many a great man and woman. Presidents, kings and queens, statesmen, athletes and entertainers. Impressive memorials to the rich and famous. I have also seen remote rural cemeteries with their markers erased by age and elements unknown to any..save Christ. “Big people with big and proud hearts never get Christ to come in. Little hearts, of humble individuals, often are receptive.” (Spurgeon)
2. Why was Bethlehem important at this time period?
a. Luke 2:1 is the traditional starting point for many for the yearly reading of the Christmas story: “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. And thus begins the earthly story of the greatest king of all time — and not the man with the lofty title “Caesar Augustus.” Rather, Caesar was unwittingly helping to set an ancient prophecy in motion that secured the King of Kings would be born in Bethlehem!
b. Friend, few other events in history better demonstrate the sovereignty of God in ordaining the events of the universe. You say, but “Caesar issued the decree!” Aye, and so he did. Yet Caesar’s whim was in fact, God’s decree!
D. Applic: Micah 5:2 teaches us God does not often choose what is exalted and honored in the eyes of the world. Instead, He loves to choose what is lowly and apparently insignificant in order to accomplish His purposes, just as He did when He chose Bethlehem as the birthplace of the Messiah. Even if we are not well known or important in the world’s eyes, God can still do great things in and through us.
3rd Question: What Reason Did Christ Come For?
A. Micah 5:2 tells us that His coming was to be “Ruler in Israel.”
1. In Bethlehem Christ was born a king.
a. Illust: Of the royalty, men are usually born princes and women born princesses. Charles III was the oldest British sovereign become king at 73 yrs. of age. (Poor fellow had to begin working when everyone gets his/her pension!)Henry VI was the youngest born on 6 December 1421, the only child of the charismatic Henry V and Catherine of Valois. He became King of England in September 1422 at just eight months old, on the death of his father. I am sure throughout history there have been infant kings, yet certainly few in number. The greatest King of All, Jesus Christ, was “born to be a ruler.”
b. “ruler in Israel” – Matthew’s Gospel shows that Jesus was of the royal lineage of Israel’s most famous king, David. And Jesus Himself plainly stated to the Roman governor Pilate, just hours before his death, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).
2. King Jesus is Lord and Ruler over Israel and whole earth.
a. Christ rules over true Israel today. Is that true? The nation state of Israel by and large rejects Jesus Christ today. 1948 10%. Today 1%.
b. Christ rules over the whole earth today. Illust: If President Biden were to say to Jesus, "How can you be the ruler over me? I have my office by the election of the people of the United States, a sovereign nation, and by virtue of a constitutional inauguration and installation," Jesus would answer, "I have my office as ruler over you by God's election and by virtue of my supernatural birth, sinless life, resurrection from the dead, my indestructible life, and my installation at God's right hand."
B. Christ is King over Spiritual Israel which is True Israel.
1. Spiritual Israel is True Israel. Rom. 9:6-8 states: “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
2. "Spiritual Israel" refers to the idea that the true Israel is not solely defined by physical descent from Abraham, but rather by faith in Jesus Christ, encompassing both Jewish believers and Gentile Christians, essentially meaning that "Spiritual Israel" is considered the "true Israel" as it represents the people who are spiritually connected to God through faith, regardless of ethnicity. Have you trusted Christ?
C. Applic: Christ came as King. Is He King over your life?
4th Question: Had Christ Ever Come Before?
A. Micah 5:2 informs us that although Jesus came from Bethlehem, He did not begin there!
1.Micah tells us that this promised one’s coming was from “long ago”.
a. So, we must ask, had Christ ever come before? The answer is assuredly affirmative! YES! Jesus had not been a silent secret from time and immemorial. Rather, the “Infant” we see in Bethlehem’s manger is the Ancient One from eternity past.
b. This is too wonderful to consider… Christ loved the “sons of men” before there were “sons of men.” Christ chose you before the foundations of the world (Eph. 1:4). He descended to earth for you! He sacrificed Himself for you. How dare any of us think He will love us any less for what we do or don’t do now. Christ’s love for you goes deeper than the deepest hell, it goes higher than the highest heaven, it is wider than the spacious firmament of creation! Did not the apostle Paul say so in Eph. 3:17-18 (And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ…)
2. When did Christ appear before His incarnation at Bethlehem?
a. Christ came so man could know God. It was Christ who communed with Adam and Eve in the Garden in the cool of the day. Many of the OT types pointed to Christ, including Noah’s Ark. The tabernacle, the high priest, He was the Passover Lamb, He was the Bronze Serpent and the Burning Bush.
b. Illust: Yet on at least 4 occasions we see Him in the bodily form of a theophany before His incarnation at Bethlehem, including: Gen. 18 where Abram is visited by three men, yet only calls one “My Lord”. He alone stays and fellowships with the patriarch. In Gen. 32 the patriarch Jacob goes through the dark night of his soul, terrified and alone. There he receives his new name by the man with whom he wrestles and refers to this Person as both “God and man.” We see Jesus again in Joshua 5:13. Israel has entered the Promised Land and Joshua faces the Captain of the Host of the Lord… and asks if this terrifying figure is for or against Israel. Joshua falls before this fearsome individual and worships Him (No angel ever did. And he is instructed to remove his sandals for the place he is standing is “Holy ground.” The 4th sighting of our Savior before His incarnation is in Neb.’s fiery furnace (Dan. 3:8-25) the 3 Hebrew children are cast into the flames by the furious egomaniac despot. Yet to his amazement Nebuchadnezzar declares: “I see 4, and the 4th is like the Son of God.” How did a pagan king know that information? It was revealed to him by God.
B. God was on the Move in the OT previewing the coming of His Son to Save.
1. Illust: in C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, at the beginning of the story, he White Witch has seized control of Narnia and has magically imposed winter. She has terrorized the Narnian inhabitants by turning many into stone and by putting a stop to Christmas. To make matters worse, Aslan is nowhere to be found. He is silent. He is hidden from view. And yet, in the midst of all this, the Narnians find hope in the reminder that they share with one another: Aslan is on the move. This reminder helps them hold fast even through the most difficult circumstances when Aslan is silent and seemingly far off. Micah 5:2 demonstrated God was on move!
2. Life can be very hard, when God appears to be silent and hidden from our view, and when we cannot see what He is doing, remember God has been and is on the move. He is at work. Even if we cannot see it, the invisible hand of God is moving and working behind the scenes, bringing His perfect purposes to pass in our lives.
C. Applic: Shortly, we’ll light our candles and sing. Every Christmas Eve that I light my candle, I catch myself staring into the flame – I can’t seem to help it. There, I hold one small ordinary candle with a small flickering light. By itself, my little flame doesn’t cast much light, yet that flame is comforting. The flame, small as it is, casts aside the darkness, reminds us we are no longer alone... reminds me of Jesus Who was sent by the Father to Bethlehem to be the King Who casts aside the Darkness and lights our way to be reconciled with the Father.
