The world has needed Jesus from the beginning.
The darkness of Sin.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a
light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2
The world Jesus entered looked a lot like ours: violence, injustice, broken families, spiritual confusion,
disappointment and fear.
The Christmas story doesn’t start in Bethlehem. It begins in a garden, with sin entering the world.
Genesis 3
Every one of us has felt that darkness in our life.
We feel the weight of sin, guilt and separation.
People long for peace, healing and hope.
We don’t just live in a broken world: we contribute to it.
The Wonder of Christmas is the light that Jesus brings to the deepest ache of the soul.
God responded to our greatest need with promise.
The Wonder of Christmas begins immediately after the fall
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush
your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15
The earliest whisper of Christmas - a Savior would come.
God repeated this promise through the centuries.
To Abraham - “All nations will be blessed through you.”
To David - A king will reign forever from his line.
To Israel - A Redeemer, a Son who will be called Immanuel.
God’s response of grace showed His heart of love.
He didn’t abandon us. He moved toward us.
The Wonder of Christmas is not that people reached up to God, but that God came down to us.
God punctuated His promises with prophecies.
Prophecies about His birth.
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will
call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
Born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2
A child who is Mighty God. Isaiah 9:6
A light for the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:6
A ruler from David’s line. Jeremiah 23:5-6
Prophecies about His mission.
To save His people from their sins. Matthew 1:21
To bring peace where there had been hostility.
To heal the brokenhearted. Isaiah 61:1
To be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Prophecies that defied all the odds
Over 300 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus.
8 Prophecies - Outside of prophecies still to be filled, Jesus has fulfilled every one of them.
A mathematician once crunched the numbers and figured out that the chances of one
person fulfilling just eight of the prophecies would be the same as if you covered the entire state of
Texas with silver dollars two feet deep, marked one of those silver dollars, threw it into the pile and we
were able to pull it out on the first try.
The Wonder of Christmas = God’s orchestration.
Jesus is the intersection of our need and God’s grace.
The angels announce His coming.
To Mary, to Joseph and to the Shepherds.
"Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you.” Luke 2:11
Not a teacher. Not a leader. A Savior.
The Wonder of Christmas is that Jesus came for us and to us.
“Immanuel," which translated means, "God with us”. Matthew 1:23b
He came to deal with sin, to defeat the enemy, and to restore our relationship with God.
Christmas is not sentimental - it’s supernatural.
Heaven invaded earth.
Light broke into darkness.
The Word became flesh.
The response to Wonder is Worship.
Simeons reaction in Luke 2:25-32
He was waiting and trusting. He held Him and worshiped.
Shepherds, Magi, disciples, sinners, lepers.
Each of us.
A season of Wonder or a life of Worship?
Bring Him everything. Your sin, your fears, everything!
