A Christmas Promise
Luke 1:1-20
December 1997
Introduction
I. A Christmas Wish
A. The wish is made
This past week there was a wonderful Christmas movie on called a Christmas Wish. It is the story of a grandson who returns home to temporarily run the family real estate business after his grandfather’s death. The grandson was raised by his grandparents after his mother and father were killed in a car accident. At the Thanksgiving celebration, the grandmother has a request and it is the only gift that she will accept for Christmas. The grandfather kept journals for many, many years and there is a woman mentioned in the journal. Her name was Lillian and the grandmother did not know who she was and asked the grandson to find Lillian.
B. The search begins
The grandson reluctantly agrees to search for Lillian and begins the search. As he asks old friends and business associates about this mystery woman; the response was always the same, no one knew Lillian. The harder the grandson searched the more difficult the search become. Until he discovered a Christmas tradition that his grandfather would always keep. The grandfather would go to visit a nursing facility every Christmas eve.
C. Lillian is found
An administrator tells the grandson about his grandfather and his visits to Lillian at Christmas. Lillian had been a long term resident in the home and the grandfather had come to see her every year. The grandson asked what had caused her to become a resident. Lillian had been in the home since she has been in a car accident that killed a young couple; the grandson’s parents. The reality was that Lillian was lost, alone and dying all because of one careless act
II. God has a Lillian as well
A. Lillian is a lot like us
There are a great deal of similarities between Lillian and our world. You see we have been alone. We have been lost. We have been suffering and we are in the process of dying. Every person suffers in this life and many times our suffering seems senseless and without reason. There is a reason for our suffering and like Lillian, it started with a careless act. God created our world in a perfect way but it did not and could not remain that way because of the disobedience of Adam. It was the fall of humanity that brought suffering into the world.
B. God made a Christmas promise
God saw the rift that was created by the fall of Adam. God knew the rift had to be healed and so He would heal the damage Himself. He would give the opportunity for humanity to have a right relationship with Him once again. God had the desire to see Himself reunited with His wayward people. God made a promise to send a Messiah to deliver humanity.
Read Text
I. Enter God in flesh
A. The grand entrance
We would expect for God to enter the world in a grand and glorious fashion. After all he does do great and miraculous things. It was God who parted the Red Sea and led His people by pillars of smoke and fire. It was God who revealed His glory to Moses and had to place Moses a protective position. We can honestly say that when God does something He makes it known to his people.
God came in flesh by the way of the manger. The one and only, all knowing, all powerful and ever present God came to earth in flesh and was born of a woman. The King of kings and Lord of lords was placed in a manger.
B. The entrance that fooled many
God did not come into the world to reveal what he looked like. Jesus came to reveal the love of God to a dying world. Jesus came to reveal the mercy of God by leaving His glory and coming to earth. Jesus revealed the grace of God by dying in our place.
II. Why do we need God?
A. Why did we need God to enter the world?
God’s desire was to restore the broken relationship between Himself and humanity but we could not accomplish that on own. The simple fact of the matter is that we needed help and the only one who could help us was God Himself.
Jesus came to fulfill the promise of God to deliver his people. Jesus was the completion of the divine plan to bring humanity back into relationship with God and to bring the needed atonement for the fall of Adam.
B. Our need demanded that God send Christ
The existence of sin has placed us in bondage and it is a bondage that we ourselves cannot break. Sin has leveled upon us a debt that we cannot pay. The manger serves as a reminder of exactly how much God loves each and every one of us. The manger is a reminder of our need and what God did to cancel the debt we owed.
Jesus humbles Himself so that common shepherds, children, fishermen, tax collectors, self righteous Pharisees and even people in our modern age might better understand God. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love in action. Jesus is the embodiment of the miracles of an almighty God. Jesus is the embodiment of the divine in human terms. Jesus is the miracle of miracles.
C. God allows us to approach him
Jesus did not come into a palace because they are too difficult for ordinary people to gain access. Jesus came by way of the manger to give an open invitation for all people to come and see that God is indeed at work.
Through Jesus God is announcing that He has made Himself available for all people. Jesus coming to us through the manger is the beginning of a transformation.
Conclusion
When we are confronted with the fact of our need, the simple fact that we need God, we must make a choice: to admit we cannot make it on our own or to try to fake it through life. When we are confronted with the reality of the manger we must make a choice: to accept the gift of God or to walk away from the gift of God.
God has fulfilled his promise through the simplicity of the manger. Jesus loved every person enough to give up His glory and take the humble position of the manger. The promise of Christ was not found in the Innkeeper’s ignorance, the song of the angels or even the sharing of the shepherds. The promise of Christ can be found in the simple manger in a humble stable in Bethlehem. When we choose to meet Jesus at the manger, we can never be the same again. Today is a good day to begin your journey with Jesus. Won’t you come and meet the Messiah of the manger?
Close with Just as I am.
