A. Most of you are aware that the date for Christ’s birth remains a mystery and that December 25th was in ancient times a Roman holiday to celebrate the passing of the winter solstice and the lengthening of the days which would lead to spring and summer.
1. Many centuries ago this date was chosen to celebrate the birth of Christ, in order to give Christians an alternative to the Roman holiday just mentioned.
2. It is well that the world be reminded not only annually, but daily of the great gift God made in the person of His Son who is the true light and Savior of the world.
3. Today’s lesson will serve to remind us of God’s gift and inspire us to give ourselves in response.
B. Imagine that you are a shepherd.
1. You’ve taken a job working the fields outside the Jerusalem suburb of Bethlehem.
2. Because of a lack of seniority, you are assigned the night shift.
3. The hours are bad, but the work is not hard.
4. The sheep stay contently in the enclosed fold and you guard the gate from predators.
5. The worst part of the job is trying to stay warm during these long winter nights.
C. One night an unbelievable thing happens.
1. As you are standing with some of your co-workers, out of no where a glorious creature appears.
2. You can scarcely look at him because of the brilliant light flowing from his tall and powerful form.
3. His luminescence lights the whole field.
4. To say you were stunned is to put it mildly; to say that you are “greatly afraid” is an understatement.
D. When the creature speaks, his voice is terrifying, yet comforting at the same time.
1. Instead of words of judgment, he speaks of peace. He tells you not to be afraid.
2. He says, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Lk 2:10-12)
E. No sooner had these words come from the mouth of this beautiful creature that the sky and the field were ablaze with a whole multitude of what could only be described as a sea of angels.
1. There was a tremendous sound as they all at once began to praise God.
2. They declared, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (2:14)
3. Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone and the night was silent again.
F. You and the other shepherds stood motionless and speechless.
1. Your brains worked furiously trying to comprehend what you have just seen and heard.
2. When the shock wore off you begin to discuss it - “Did you just see what I saw?” “Yah, and did you hear what I heard?” Uhuh.
3. The message was clearly embedded in everyone’s mind, and what you must do was not a question.
4. You must go to Bethlehem and find the Savior, the Christ, the long awaited Messiah.
5. All your life you have heard the prophecies of the coming Christ who will be the Savior of Israel.
6. You’ve always imagined the Savior to be a mighty warrior riding into Jerusalem on a beautiful white stallion.
7. You’ve imagined him having the miracle-working power of Elijah, the wisdom of Solomon, the leadership of Moses, the faith of Abraham, and the military prowess of Joshua.
8. But this angel said he would be “a babe” and furthermore he would be “wrapped in cloths” and of all things be found “lying in a manger.”
G. You all rush as fast as your legs can carry you and you find the stable behind the Inn.
1. There by the light of a lamp you see a young woman with her presumed husband, and then you see the baby wrapped in cloths lying in the straw.
2. You immediately drop to your knees, and as the world around you fades you are lost in the worship of this special infant.
H. Okay, snap out of it. You are no longer a shepherd.
1. Let’s step back from the scene and try to understand what these shepherds must have been thinking as they got that first glimpse of the Christ-child.
2. What must have been going through their minds?
3. The Bible doesn’t tell us what they thought, but it does tell us what they did. After they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what they had been told about the child.
4. Then they returned to the fields, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.
I. So, what had they seen? They had seen MAJESTY IN THE MANGER!
1. Luke chapter 2 tells us about the shepherds seeing the baby Jesus, but Hebrews chapter 1 tells us about who the baby in the manger was.
2. Over 150 years ago, William Chatterton Dix penned the words to the classic hymn, “What Child is this, who laid to rest on Mary’s lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping? This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing; Haste, haste, to bring Him laud, the Babe, the son of Mary.”
3. William Dix asks the same question that the shepherds must have been asking, and that multitudes have been asking since then: What Child is This?
4. Using Hebrews 1:1-3 allow me to explain the truth about the child in the manger.
What Child is This? The Baby in the Manger is the HEIR of All Things
A. The baby in the manger is both the son of Mary and the Son of God.
1. He had no human father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
2. As the son of Mary, he was heir to very little, but as the Son of God he is heir of all things, because God owns all things.
3. In Psalm 2:6-9 God says of his Son, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill. I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘you are my Son; today I have become your father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
4. In Psalm 89:27, The Father says of Jesus, “I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.”
5. Being the “firstborn” does not mean that Christ is not eternal, rather it speaks of his legal right as the Son of God to be the heir of all things.
B. But the good news for us is that he will not keep his inheritance to himself, he promises to share it with us!
1. Listen to Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, the we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
2. Yes, Jesus is the heir of all things and we are joint heirs with him. Praise the Lord!
Second, What Child is This? The Baby in the Manger is the CREATOR of All Things.
A. Hebrews 1:2 says that it was through Jesus that God made the universe.
1. Over and over the Bible teaches that it was Jesus, the Son of God who framed the world.
2. John 1:3 says, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
3. Look at Colossians 1:16, “For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”
B. It is interesting to note that our text from Hebrews says that Jesus made the universe.
1. The word used that the NIV translated as universe is aions which corresponds to the English word eons or ages.
2. See, Jesus not only created the physical realm that we can see, but he also created time, space, energy and matter.
3. How ludicrous are the so-called scientists who try to teach our children that the world just simply came into being, and that no one designed it or made it.
4. Only a deluded blind faith enables some to believe that the complexity of all creation simply evolved from nothing all by itself.
C. But consider this, Jesus created everything.
1. He designed the womb in which his body was formed.
2. When he was born he was laid in a manger made of lumber from a tree he created.
3. He created the atomic structure that held the manger up and the gravitational force that held it down.
4. Jesus created every aspect of the physical universe that he chose to enter as a helpless baby.
Third, What child is this? The Baby in the Manger is the Radiance of God’s Glory.
A. In times past, God had revealed some of his glory to men.
1. Moses, the lawgiver once asked to see God’s glory.
a. God told him that no one could see his face and live, but he would allow Moses to see his glory as he passed.
b. So, Moses saw the train of his glory, like the glimpse of the train of a bridal gown.
c. This quick glimpse was so intense that Moses had to wear a veil over his face for days.
2. The people of Israel saw the glory of God during the wilderness wanderings as they saw the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
3. After the tabernacle was finished they saw the glory of God come down upon that place.
4. Isaiah the prophet saw the glory of God as it filled the temple one day.
B. So, throughout the OT we see glimpses of God’s glory, but in the NT we see God’s glory fully revealed.
1. John said it well in Jn. 1:14, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
2. The glorious truth is that one day the glory of God came, not in a cloud, not on a mountain, not in the temple, but wrapped in swaddling cloths, walking the dusty roads of Palestine, hung from a cross, and then raised from the dead!
Forth, What Child is This? The Baby in the Manger is the Image of God
A. Hebrews 1:3 also says that Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being.
1. The phrase “exact representation” comes from a term used to describe the impression made by a stamp or seal.
2. In that day, important papers were often sealed with wax and the signet ring of a noble.
3. Today, important documents must be witnessed and sealed by a notary public.
4. The seal ensures the authenticity.
B. Colossians 1:15 says something similar when Paul writes that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God...”
1. The Greek word for “image” means a precise copy or an exact reproduction.
2. Jesus is the perfect picture of God.
3. Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (Jn 14:9)
4. Jesus is the wonderful physical expression of God, Col 2:9 says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity (Godhead) lives in bodily form.”
Fifth, What Child is This? The Baby in the Manger is the Upholder of All Things
A. Jesus not only made all things, he is right now sustaining and upholding all things.
1. Our text for today tells us that Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
2. The verb “sustaining” is in the present tense, which implies continual, ongoing action.
3. Jesus right now is continually holding all things together.
4. Col. 1:17 says, “Christ is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
5. Amazingly, Jesus does all that he does with just the whisper of his voice, His command is so powerful!
Sixth, What Child is This? The Baby in the Manger is the Purger of Our Sins
A. The Hebrew writer continues in his description of Jesus, “After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
1. We are all sinners. Because of our sin we deserve physical death, we deserve spiritual death, we deserve eternal alienation from God.
2. Thanks be to God that Jesus took our guilt and our punishment upon himself and died in our place!!! Amen!!
3. The baby born in Bethlehem was the perfect once-for-all sacrifice for our sins.
4. Rev. 13:8 describes him as “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.”
5. The death of Jesus on our behalf was no surprise to him. It was certainly not a stop-gap move. It was in the plan of God from the very beginning.
6. We have the wonderful hope of eternal life because Jesus is the purger of our sins.
B. Don’t miss one last insight from this passage: after Jesus had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
1. One thing about the temple that you notice is there is no place to sit.
2. The priests never sat down because the work of making sacrifices for sin never ceased.
3. Jesus sat down because the work was done.
4. From the cross, He himself said the incredible, momentous words: “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30).
5. And it is finished. He is the author and perfecter of our faith.
6. We are saved by grace because of what he did for us! Praise God.
Conclusion:
A. So, let’s review what we have seen today.
B. When the shepherds entered that stable that night, what did they witness? They saw Majesty in a Manger.
1. They saw the Heir of all things.
2. They saw the Creator of all things.
3. They saw the Brightness of God’s glory.
4. They saw the Image of the Father.
5. They saw the Upholder of all things.
6. And they saw the Purger of our Sins.
7. When we look at Jesus in the manger or at any time that is who we are looking at.
8. Jesus is God. He is the creator and upholder of all things, and he is the Savior.
C. Let me end with an story:
1. Once there was a woman who wanted to give her circle of friends some special Christmas gifts.
2. Unfortunately, time slipped away and she just was not able to shop for gifts.
3. At the last minute she gave up on finding gifts and just decided to buy everyone the same beautiful Christmas card.
4. She went to the store and hurriedly went through the now picked over stack of card boxes.
5. She saw a box of fifty that had just the picture she was looking for, but she didn’t take time to read the message, she just assumed it would be appropriate.
6. She quickly signed and addressed them and put them in the mail.
7. A few days later she was cleaning up the mess she had made and was about to throw out the few remaining cards in the box when it occurred to her she had failed to read the message inside.
8. The card read, “This Christmas card is just to say, a little gift is on its way.”
9. That lady did not realize what she had gotten herself into with her gifts she had given.
D. That is not the case with Jesus.
1. God knew exactly what he had gotten himself into with the gift of the baby Jesus.
2. Jesus came deliberately to live and to die for us.
3. He came in the form of a helpless infant, but he died in the form of a willing adult.
4. And why did he do it? Because he loved us, and didn’t want us to spend an eternity in hell separated from the goodness and glory of God.
5. So, during this holiday season as everyone focuses on the infant in the manger, be sure to remember who this child is and who this child became.
6. He certainly was majesty in the manger, and he continues to be majesty in heaven.
7. You can share in his majesty if you will believe in him and live for him.
