For unto Us a Child Is Born
Luke 2:1-20
Sermon by: Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church
December 25, 2005
*I remember Christmas as a little kid. I know it’s hard to picture me in little footie p.j.’s, but I can remember those years: So excited about Christmas morning that we would be up before the crack of dawn, just chomping at the bit for Mom & Dad to wake up too!
*It was exciting, but let me tell you something much more exciting: The days when my three children were born. That was an experience almost beyond compare, the exhilarating joy that a child is born into the world. And that is the joy we can share today, because as the angel said in vs. 10&11:
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people... For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
*Unto you is born a Savior! Jesus was born for us!
1. First of all, He was born so that we might be born again. Not just born physically for 50 or 80 or even 100 years, but born again spiritually to live forever, given new birth by the Holy Spirit of God.
*You must be born again in order to have eternal life. You must be born again to live forever with God in Heaven. Listen to the way Jesus put it in John 3:3-6...
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus then said to Jesus: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”
*Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
*You must be born again. This is also why John 1:12-13 says: “But as many as received Him, [Jesus Christ] to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
*When we open our heart to receive Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, His Holy Spirit comes to live in our heart and we are born again.
*Just think about it: The Virgin Mary carried the Lord for 9 months until the day that Jesus was born -- But there was another time the Lord came to live inside of her. It was in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost. This time the Lord came to live in her forever. And now the same Holy Spirit comes to live in all who trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. That’s how we are born again.
*Jesus was born so that we might be born again, but on this Christmas Day, we must not just think of His birth, we must also remember His death. Verse 11 reminds us when it says: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Jesus is our Savior, but we must remember the price He paid to be our Savior, the price He paid on the Cross, so that we could be born again forever.
*This great truth can get lost so quickly in the pile of presents and paper and bows that surrounds our tree. As we celebrate the birth of Christ in Luke 2, we must remember that there is also a Luke 22, where Jesus suffered in the Garden and prayed: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” We must also remember that there is a Luke 23, where Jesus suffered and died on the Cross for our sins.
*Jeff Strite tells of a poem written to help us remember this truth:
“It’s Christmas time at our house and we’re putting up the tree.
I wish I could find some simple way to remember God’s gift to me.
Some little sign or symbol to show friends stopping by
The little babe was born one day
But He really came to die.
Some symbol of His nail pierced hands
The blood He shed for you and me
What if I hung a simple nail on my shining Christmas tree?
A crimson bow tied ‘round the nail as His blood flowed down so free
To save each person from their sin
And redeem us for eternity.
I know it was His love for us that held Him to the tree
But when I see this simple nail I’ll know He died for me.” (1)
2. Jesus was born for us, so that we might be born again, and so that we might bow down before Him in worship.
*Remember today that a big part of our worship is praise, praise like we hear from the angels in vs. 13-14: “Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
*“Glory to God in the highest!” Jesus Christ was worthy of the angels’ praise, and He is worthy of our praise today! The more we see Jesus Christ as He truly is, the more we will give Him praise. That’s why vs. 20 says that “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen.”
*Remember that worship means praise, but it also means a present. We give gifts at Christmas, because our God is a giver, and on that first Christmas, He gave the greatest gift of all. As Isaiah 9:6 says: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.”
*And now God wants us to give our lives to Him, as our greatest act of worship. I think this was the greatest thing I learned from Rick Warren this year. I had always loved Rom 12:1, which in the KJV says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” But I never realized that the word picture behind that word for “service” was all about worship. So we are to present our life to God as a devoted act of worship.
*Charles Krieg helped us see this in a story about a little preschool girl on her mother’s birthday. The family planned a party for mom, and when the time came for the presentation of the gifts, Mom was instructed to sit in her favorite living room chair. One by one, Dad and the 2 older children came in from the kitchen carrying their gifts on a tray. They presented the birthday presents to Mom as if she were a queen.
*Unfortunately the smallest girl had been left out of the plan, but watching the others, she had a great idea, and when the others thought the party was over, this little girl came in from the kitchen with an empty tray. As she came near to Mom, she placed the tray on the floor, stepped on it herself, and with a great wiggle of joy she said, “Mommy, I give you me!” (2)
*That’s the spirit God wants to see in our lives! “I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
*So, we worship the Lord with the praise of our lips, and the presentation of our lives.
3. Jesus was born for us, so that we might bow down before Him in worship, and so that we might bring His story everywhere we go. The shepherds teach us this in vs. 15-18.
*I am so glad that the angel appeared to these unnamed, ordinary shepherds. It reminds us that the Lord cares about ordinary people just like you and me! He loves us! He came for us! Jesus even died on the Cross for us.
*The shepherds remind us that Jesus came for ordinary people like us, but they also remind us that ordinary people can go for Him. Just like the shepherds in vs. 17, we can bring the good news everywhere we go. If we have seen Jesus Christ in our lives, if we know Him in our hearts, we’ve got something to share! And what a difference we can make in this cold, dark world.
*Isabel Wolseley helps us see that. She told the story of a modest, soft-spoken woman from Oregon, not the type of person you notice in a crowd. This woman often felt worthless & told her pastor, “Everyone else at church seems to have some special talent, but I just don’t have any ministry at all.”
*Just about the same time, half a world away in Papua, New Guinea, a young missionary stooped to enter a grass hut. Sometimes he hiked with the natives down a jungle trail. Sometimes he piloted his helicopter to take them to a doctor or bring them supplies. Sometimes he flew over dangerous terrain to carry Bible translators to their work stations.
*1 day a friend asked him: “How did you happen to become a missionary?”
*And he said: “Well, my brother and I were going around our neighborhood 1 Halloween when a neighbor dropped an invitation to Sunday School into our trick-or-treat bags. That’s what started Mom & Dad and us going to a Bible-believing church. Now my brother is a Sunday School leader, Mom writes Christian articles, and Dad directs the choir at their church.”
*The missionary’s friend said in awe, “All this resulted from a simple invitation to Sunday School dropped into your trick-or-treat bags!”
*And the woman, who thought she had nothing to contribute, was the very same woman who dropped that invitation into the boy’s bags. Isabel Wolseley knows, because she is that missionary’s mom. (3)
*I promise you that ordinary people like us can make an everlasting difference in this cold & dark world! People are won to Jesus when ordinary Christians like us realize that we have good news to bring.
Conclusion:
*Jesus Christ was born for us!
-That we might be born again...
-That we might bow down before Him in worship...
-And that we might bring His story everywhere we go.
1. Adapted from SermonCentral: Christmas Gifts - God’s Christmas Gift Sermon by Jeff Strite John 3 1-18
2. Adapted from Charles Krieg, St. Joseph’s Seminary, Princeton, NJ.
3. Adapted from story by Isabel Champ Wolseley
