What Child Is This? Christmas Message

• Michael Jordan

• Bill Gates

• A Preacher

• And a Hippie

All of a sudden the engines went out. The pilot came on the intercom and said, "I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that we've got parachutes. The bad news is that there are five of us, and we've only got four parachutes."

• Then the pilot jumped out saying, "They'll need pilots in the future."

• Michael Jordan said "They'll need athletes in the future." And he jumped out also.

• Then Bill Gates said "I'm the smartest man in the world, and they will certainly need me.” And he jumped out.

That left the Hippie and the Preacher with the fourth parachute. The Preacher had the parachute in his hands, and said, "Well, son, I've lived a long fulfilling life. You can have this parachute."

The Hippie said to the Preacher, “Don’t worry about it!” We still have two parachutes, “The smartest man in the world just jumped out with my backpack. I have the fourth parachute right here!"

I do not claim to be the smartest man in the world, but in this Christmas sermon, I want to show you some things from the Word of God that perhaps you have never considered before. I would like for us to consider the life of Christ in two ways. First, let us consider:

I. HIS ADOLESCENCE

Most of the sermons we hear about Jesus deal with His adult life. But the Lord spent almost two-thirds of his life on this earth as a child and a teenager, so we can not help but ask -

WHAT KIND OF CHILD WAS HE? I can tell you this up front, never has their been a child like the child Jesus! You see He was born of a virgin.

All births are miraculous. Every time we witness the birth of a child, we witness a miracle. But never has there ever been a birth like the BIRTH OF JESUS.

Many folks can not fully comprehend what it means when we say He was born of a virgin. We accept the virgin birth of Jesus on the basis of biblical authority, but we do not understand it.

Illus: For example, there was a beautiful little girl in the seventh grade. She was a very bright and sensitive girl, but she did not understand everything she heard in church. One day at school, she was asked by a curious girl friend, "Are you a virgin?" Well, like a lot of young girls her age who had lived a very protective life, she did not know what a virgin was. But she remembered hearing about the virgin Mary, and she came to the conclusion that Mary had a baby, therefore, a virgin must be a woman who has had a baby.

When she reached this conclusion, she announced loudly to her friend in the cafeteria, "No! I am not a virgin!"

Everyone in the cafeteria was shocked, but one classmate leaned over and said to her, “You need to sit down and be quiet, because I don’t think you know what you are talking about!"

Many of us, adults included, do not know what we are talking about when we are talking about the virgin birth.

The birth of Christ was not the NORMAL MIRACLE that takes place at birth. IT WAS BEYOND THAT!

WHAT IS THE VIRGIN BIRTH? When we speak of Christ being born of a virgin, we are saying that His birth is different than any other birth that has ever occurred on this earth.

THE VIRGIN BIRTH MEANS THAT JESUS CAME FROM GOD. HE IS GOD’S SON. The emphasis is not primarily on Mary, but on the creative life-giving power of Almighty God.

The Bible says, in Matthew 1:18, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.”

The words that say His birth was “On this wise”, mean His birth was like no other birth that has ever taken place before or since that time.

But not only was His birth unusual, SO WAS HIS LIFE.

Look at HIS ADOLESCENCE.

• He lived a perfect life from the day He was born until the day He died.

• Joseph and Mary could truly say their Son was perfect in every sense of the word.

Illus: I know parents who choose to kid themselves, and think their child is an angel that has never done anything wrong, but they would be shocked to know what others know about their child, that they do not know.

Illus: It is only when the children get older, and they are no longer afraid of spankings, that they start confessing what little demons they were.