The Birth of Christ
Luke 2:1-14
INTRO.- ILL.- A boy said to his friend, "Does your baby brother talk yet?" His buddy replied, "He doesn’t have to. He gets everything he wants by yelling."
Babies will be babies, won’t they?
Babies come in all varieties, shapes, sizes and weights, but regardless, they all yell or scream at times and they all wet their diapers and make messes.
ILL.- I read an article entitled, "When Baby Makes CHAOS." Babies do make for a certain amount of chaos in the home.
One husband said, "My wife is out all day at play groups, toddler gym, the park—anywhere but home. So when I come home from work, everything still needs to be done around the house!"
One wife said, "My husband gets home from work at six and sits down in front of the television set. When I ask him to take the baby so I can have a break, he says he’s had a rough day and needs to relax!"
One mother of two toddlers put it this way: "My husband thinks he’s off duty when he comes home each evening; but as a stay-at-home mom, I never go off duty. At 6 p.m., my husband is usually resting, but I’ve still got dinner to get on the table, the kitchen to clean up and storytime and baths for the kids."
I wonder if Mary, the mother of Jesus, felt that way about Joseph.
Babies make for a lot of work in the home. Hopefully, both mom and dad will share the load.
It’s almost time for the baby to be born. What baby? It could be any baby. Let’s compare notes.
ILL.- I have a twin sister. She weighed over 5 lbs. and got to go home from St. John’s hospital on schedule. I weighed four pounds and several ounces. I had to stay in the hospital for a month before I got to go home. I used to torment mom and say, "You didn’t want me. You left me all alone in that hospital!"
She said, "I did want you. I felt terrible. I went down to the corner and used the pay phone every day to call the hospital to check on you."
They finally let me go home. Either that or they kicked me out for bad behavior.
Hey! If you ever thought I was a runt, listen to this: BOB MORTON DIDN’T EVEN WEIGH 3 LBS. AT BIRTH! (although there is some debate over his weight. Bob says he was just less than two pounds and Janet says he was just less than three pounds.)
Anyway, he was born, I think. He was born weighing either one or two pounds and some very odd ounces. Bob was born at his home in Trilla, the youngest of five children, on December 23rd, yes, this very day in 1926. This day makes Bob only 95 years old. Uh, I mean 75 years old.
Bob’s sister said they put him in a shoebox and placed him near the cookstove to keep him warm. And at night Bob slept in a drawer. I don’t know if he was "in his drawers" or in a chest of drawers. But we love him regardless of his birth weight or his age.
THE BABY HAS BEEN BORN! The Christ child has been born. Not only born, but raised to manhood and did his thing as the Savior of the world. Lived the life and died the death.
PROP.- Let’s consider three thoughts about our Savior.
1- The birth - miraculous
2- The blessing - salvation
3- The beauty - Christ
I. THE BIRTH - MIRACULOUS
Isaiah 7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."
The virgin will give birth. And Mary did. The virgin birth. Do you believe it?
ILL.- A father asked his little boy, "What did you learn in Sunday School today?"
The little boy said, "We learned about how Moses went behind enemy lines to rescue the Jews from the Egyptians. Moses ordered engineers to build a pontoon bridge over the Red Sea. After the people crossed the crossed, he sent bombers back to blow up the bridge and the Egyptian tanks that were following them."
His father asked, "Did the teacher really tell you that?"
His boy said, "NO, BUT IF I TOLD YOU WHAT HE REALLY SAID YOU WOULD NEVER BELIEVE IT!"
Brothers and sisters, that’s the problem that some people have when it comes to the miracles of the Bible. THEY DON’T REALLY BELIEVE THEM!
ILL.- The publication Christianity Today had a brief article stating, "MOST BRITISH CLERGY DON’T BELIEVE THE BIBLE." Only three out of 103 church leaders told the BBC they believe in a literal, six-day creation story, only 13 believe in Adam and Eve, and 25% of those surveyed don’t believe in the Virgin Birth.
Some British preachers aren’t the only non-believers. There are plenty of others. Do you really have a problem believing the virgin birth of Christ? I would certainly hope not.
Gen. 1:3 "And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light."
ILL.- I can walk into a room of my house and say, "Light on!" And there will be light. Well, not exactly. I have to "flip the switch." And even after I "flip the switch" and the light comes on, I still don’t understand how I got that light.
I know there’s a power plant somewhere, feeding electricity into my house and making light possible, but I am not the producer of that light. And I certainly can’t walk outside in the dark of the night and say, "Let there be light," and light will appear.
But God said, "let there be light" and there was light. DO YOU BELIEVE THOSE WORDS? Do you believe that God could speak light into existence?
How can you not believe in the power of God? The evidence of God’s power is everywhere! It’s in the starry universe! It’s in plant and animal life! It’s in the human body! It’s in the birth of a baby!
Don’t try to understand God. Don’t try to understand how He created the universe, planet earth, etc. Don’t try to understand how he can speak things into existence! HE IS GOD! HE IS ALL-POWERFUL! Just believe. Trust. Walk by faith.
Heb. 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Without faith we’ll never please God, be rewarded or get better in life!
If God can speak light into existence and if God can speak a man and woman into existence, God can speak to a virgin womb and make it give birth to the Christ child! Don’t be faithless! BELIEVE!
And what about your own personal miracle? DO YOU NEED ONE? Do you need for God to speak and perform a miracle in your life, your marriage, your family, your finances, your work? I’m sure you do, because there is no perfection situation in life. All areas of our lives could be improved and God is just the one to improve them and miracle-ize them!
God still moves stones! Just as God moved the stone from the tomb of Jesus, He can move the stone in your life! He can speak and perform a miracle in your life. If you will let Him. IF YOU WILL BELIEVE!
The birth - miraculous. And God is still in that business. Changing lives.
II. THE BLESSING - SALVATION
Luke 2:11 "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Christ the Lord."
ILL.- A guide was taking a group of tourists around the Empire State Building in New York. On the elevator ride to the 102nd floor, a nervous woman asked, "What if these cables should break? Would we go up or down?"
The guide said, "That depends entirely on the kind of life you’ve been leading."
Brothers and sisters, heaven or hell does not depend entirely on the life you’ve been leading! NOT ENTIRELY! Your eternal salvation mainly depends on whether or not you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior! HE IS THE SAVIOR! You are not! That’s why He died, because you couldn’t saved yourself. That’s what grace is all about. That’s what God’s graciousness is all about.
If you could have saved yourself then Christ didn’t need to come to earth and die on the cross. BUT SINCE YOU COULDN’T, HE DID!
Christ was born to become the Savior of the world. HE WAS BORN TO DIE! Our destiny is death. Eventually death. But His death was for our sake.
By dying on the cross, Jesus took all our sins upon Himself. He bore our sins in His body. He who had no sin became sin for us. He tasted death for us. He was separated from the Father for us! He suffered the agony of the 2nd death for us!
Through Christ we can be saved from our sins and for eternity! We need to be preaching that message and presenting Him as the Savior! Everybody needs Christ as their Savior!
ILL.- Several weeks ago I told you about my neighbor. Remember my neighbor? I have seen him very early in the mornings, pushing a cart around, going through trash.
Let me describe my neighbor to you and see if you know him.
- He is 60 years old
- Spent 20 years in the army - E7 - a cook
- Never had to serve in Vietnam
- Used to drink a gallon of liquor a day while in the service
- Let his hands do his talking (got in a lot of fights)
- Got out of the service in 1980
- Picks up aluminum cans to make extra money to play the slot machines
- Works part-time for Daniel’s produce and does other odd jobs
- Lives off 19th street - has his own house
- His older brother lives with him
- Was married once for seven years (wife didn’t want to go overseas with him so he let her go)
- Was turned off to Christianity at the age of 8 years old when he heard a woman preach for three hours
- Doesn’t believe in Christ and all the things that are said about him (doesn’t believe in life after death)
- He does try to help do things for children
- I said, "Merry Christmas" and he replied, "I have Christmas every day."
- Let his nephew have an upstairs apartment rent free
- still drinks some (about two shots a month)
- Eat all the sweets he wants (and anything else he wants)
- Went to school with Mike Carter (said Mike was ornery or something like that)
Did you hear what my neighbor said about Christ? He doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ or all that is said about him.
Even though he says he doesn’t believe, I haven’t given up on him! Whenever I see him again I’m going to talk to him about Christ. I HAVEN’T GIVEN UP ON HIM! And do you know why? BECAUSE GOD HASN’T GIVEN UP ON HIM!
And there are many other people out there just like him who need to hear about Christ. THEY NEED CHRIST! And we need to keep plugging away, presenting the message, pulling at the heartstrings!
II Pet. 3:9 "The Lord is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
There is life beyond the grave! I know there is! Get ready for the big party! It’s coming! The blessing - eternal salvation.
1- The birth - miraculous
2- The blessing - salvation
III. THE BEAUTY - CHRIST
Matt. 20:28 "The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve..."
Acts 10:38 "God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power.... And he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil."
ILL.- John said to his girlfriend Mary, "You must marry me. I love you. There can be no other."
Mary said, "But, John, I don’t love you. You must find some other woman...some beautiful woman."’
John said, "But I don’t want a beautiful woman. I WANT YOU."
Brothers and sisters, there are beautiful people and there are beautiful people!
Who’s your pick? Tom Cruise and his ex-wife, Nicole Kidman? Or "Cruise and cruz"? Tom Cruise and his latest flame, Penelope Cruz?
They are beautiful people, and I hope they are beautiful people. That is, I hope they are beautiful people in life, the way they live. Obviously, not all beauty is measured by the texture of the skin or the face in the mirror or the shape and weight of the body.
ILL.- An ad appeared in a newspaper one time that read: "Farmer wants to marry woman, 35 years old, with tractor. Send picture of tractor."
What’s the moral to that story? THE LOOKS OF PEOPLE ARE NOT IMPORTANT. But they are in tractors!
It’s not what is on the outside that counts. It’s what is on the inside of a person. Beautiful people are beautiful from within. They are loving, caring, serving, helping, praying people.
ILL.- Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun from Calcutta, India, wasn’t much to look at it. But she had a sweet spirit and spread a great fragrance wherever she went. She was willing to give and give up for the sake of Christ.
ILL.- Another was Corrie Ten Boom, the simple Dutch woman who survived Hitler’s death camps to become a humble, loving servant of the Lord Jesus. She once said, "The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation."
These women and many more people just like them are beautiful people because of the beautiful one they followed and imitated!
Matt. 8:1-3 "When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said, ‘BE CLEAN!’ Immediately he was cured of his leprosy."
Only the beautiful one was willing to touch the leper and do something for him. Most ignored him or shunned him, but not the beautiful one.
Matt. 8:10-11 "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and ‘sinners’ came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?"
Do you know why Jesus ate and associated with sinners? The beautiful one saw something in all people. The beautiful one loved all people and saw potential in them. Potential followers of the living God. Potential lovers. Potential servants.
Matt. 9:35-36 "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them...."
What do you see when you "see" the crowds of people? Do you see them as "harassed and helpless" and look upon them with compassion like the beautiful one? Or do you look upon them in haste and with distant feelings?
Jesus is the beauty, the beautiful one who loved, and listened, and blessed, and healed, and served, and touched.
ILL.- "You look so good. You smell wonderful. Your hair is trim and neat. Your clothes are fine and fashionable. But your spirit is...." You finish the sentence. Your spirit is what?
"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13
Have you been with Jesus? Has the beautiful one rubbed off on you? Has his beauty and fragrance rubbed off on you?
CONCLUSION------------------------------
ILL.- Sir James Simpson, the discoverer of anesthetic properties of chloroform and one of the most prominent scientists of his day was asked what his most wonderful discovery was. He said, "The greatest discovery I ever made was that of the Savior, Jesus Christ."
Have you discovered Jesus? The beautiful one? The miraculous? The Savior? May He be your greatest discovery, gift and treasure.
