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Introduction
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As we look around the world
this Christmas and reflect
on the past year, we wonder
“What lies ahead”, will
there be another
Christmas”. This is due to
at least three
reasons: |
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a) |
For many there is a dark
shadow across this Christmas
Season. For some it is the
loss of a spouse or a child
and this is the first
Christmas without the
individual so deeply loved.
Even if being amongst
friends, the mind reflects
on the last Christmas when
they were all together. It
just does not seem right
that other folks should be
happy as they scurry from
store to store getting that
someone deeply loved that
special gift. There is an
emptiness, a loss, a part of
one missing, an aching
heart, a loneliness that
lies deep where no one sees. |
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b) |
Then we look around the
world and watch the
political tremors of the
earth’s politicians, the
coups and attempted coups,
the tornados, the hurricanes
and suchlike. The increase
in mind and life destroying
drugs, the suicide rate and
violence among men. Human
life means nothing when an
unborn baby is reduced to a
group of cells which are
used for profit.
Barbarianism dominates the
greatest creation of God,
but should we be surprised?
What does the Bible teach?
Was the world into which the
Lord was born a delightful
scene of pastoral bliss,
where serenity ruled in
every sphere, where
quietness and peace rested
in every heart? |
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c) |
The third thing that
depresses and sheds a dark
shadow is the emptiness of
life, especially when one is
striving for that which
appears to satisfy but still
leaves one empty. In the
ancient world Solomon tried
the fine arts, studying
horticulture and every
philosophy that could be
thought of and found it left
him empty. |
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So many can fit into one of
these categories and in the
darkness of the hour
question, sometimes in their
own heart and sometimes
openly, “ How can people be
so happy when there is so
much to cause grief?” The
answer is at least twofold: |
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a) |
Some because they are
excited due to a new
arrival, getting together
with family, and just the
spirit of happiness in the
people in general. It is
called the Christmas spirit. |
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b) |
Others because it reminds
them of what the story of
Jesus’ birth means to them
personally. |
The Birth of Our Lord
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When I think of the events
surrounding the Lord’s
condescension and
incarnation and the virgin
conception of the Lord,
there comes into focus the
following: |
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a) |
God is the communicating
God, and there is such a
thing as divine revelation. |
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b) |
God is not curtailed by the
normal or natural way of
doing things. |
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c) |
God is sovereign in His
overruling. |
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d) |
God is working out a bigger
plan than the life of the
individual. |
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e) |
God is supreme in His
attributes. |
God is the communicating God, and
there is such a truth as divine
revelation
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One of the questions often
queried is, “Is there such a
thing as divine
revelation?” To prove such
is the case one only needs
to read the Old Testament
prophecies, or better,
“God’s promises” concerning
the coming of the Lord into
this world. |
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a) |
“Therefore the Lord himself
shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name
Immanuel.” (Isa. 7:14) |
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b) |
“But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be
little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee
shall he come forth unto me
that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth
have been from of old, from
everlasting.” (Mic. 5:2) |
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c) |
“There shall come a Star out
of Jacob, and a Scepter
shall rise out of Israel.”
(Num. 24:17) |
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d) |
“For unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is
given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The
mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of
Peace. Of the increase of
his government and peace
there shall be no end, upon
the throne of David, and
upon his kingdom, to order
it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice
from henceforth even for
ever. The zeal of the LORD
of hosts will perform this”
(Isa. 9:6-7).
Add
to this the angel’s words to
Mary and Joseph: |
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i) |
To Mary: “And the angel said
unto her, Fear not, Mary:
for thou hast found favour
with God. And, behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb,
and bring forth a son, and
shalt call his name JESUS” (Lk.
1:30, 31). |
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ii) |
To Joseph: The angel said,
“Arise, and take the young
child and his mother, and
flee into Egypt, and be thou
there until I bring thee
word: for Herod will seek
the young child to destroy
him” (Matt. 2:13). |
God is not curtailed by the normal
or natural way of doing things.
Throughout humanity’s history God
has done some miraculous things
regarding the conception of a baby.
The natural way is by the joining of
male and female and to replenish the
earth as God commanded (Gen. 1:28).
But, when dealing with the God with
whom “all things are possible”
(Matt. 19:26), and of whom the
question was asked, “Is any thing
too hard for the LORD?” (Gen.
18:14), God is not restricted to
“the normal”. One has only to read
the scriptures and observe that God
created Adam, and in doing so He
made a man without a woman, (Gen.
1:27). He made a woman (Eve)
without intimacy with a man (Gen.
2:22); in Isaac He caused Sarah to
conceive when she and Abraham were
both physically past age (Gen.
21:2); in Rachel (Gen. 29:31,
compare ch. 30:22) and Hannah he
caused them to give birth when they
were both barren (1 Sam. 1:5;
compare verse 20). Since God can
raise life from dead parents, can He
not cause a virgin to conceive and
as such give birth to a baby? Adam
did not know his wife until after
the baby was born. We read the
wonder of the conception and the
words to Joseph, “for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy
Ghost” (Matt. 1:20).
We have the God who can do the
impossible and no matter how dark my
present hour is, God can bring
light, hope and joy again. Many
years ago in one of my darkest hours
I heard a lady sing a most wonderful
hymn:
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You may be down and
feel like God has somehow
forgotten
That you are faced with
circumstances you can't get
through,
But now it seems that
there's no way out, and
you're going under
God's proven time and
time again, He'll take care
of you.
He'll do it again,
He'll do it again
If you'll just take a
look at where you are now
and where you've been
Well hasn't He always come
through for you?
He's the same now as
then, you may not know how
You may not know when, but
He'll do it again. |
Thank God He is not
restricted to the normal way
of doing things.
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God is sovereign in His
overruling |
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A decree was given, and
notice the wording of Dr.
Luke, a man who had to be
precise in his profession.
“And it came to pass in
those days, that there went
out a decree from Caesar
Augustus, that all the world
should be taxed (And this
taxing was first made
when Cyrenius was governor
of Syria)” (Lk. 2:1, 2).
The decree was made but not
executed for some years. It
is my understanding that a
precise duration cannot be
made, but there was a time
difference. Why was there a
duration from when the
decree was made and actually
executed? Simply because
God had appointed a time for
the birth of the Lord. Paul
wrote, “When the fullness of
the time was come, God sent
forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4).
The coming of the Lord into
the world was not too early
or a little bit early in
God’s timetable, but
precisely perfect. |
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a) |
When the baby was born and
brought into the temple it
just so happened that, “And,
behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem, whose name was
Simeon . . . . And he came
by the Spirit into the
temple: and when the parents
brought in the child Jesus,
to do for him after the
custom of the law” (Lk.
2:25-27). God was
controlling when Joseph and
Mary came, and when Simeon
came. |
God is working out a bigger plan
than the life of the individual
One can feel quite sorry for Mary,
especially any woman who has been or
is pregnant and about to have a
baby. It was, humanly speaking, all
wrong. The wrong time to have to
travel, the wrong time for the
decree to be enacted, and the wrong
time for the conception. I cannot
imagine how she felt starting out on
that journey of approximately 175
kilometers from Nazareth to
Bethlehem. Sitting on a donkey
(which they may have had) could not
have been a smooth journey, yet this
was God’s timing and it had to be
this way for the Baby had to be born
in Bethlehem. I am sure had they
only been able to see that God
calling the children of Israel out
of Egypt was a shadow of this
journey they were taking, it was
necessary to show how the religious
political world was against God and
His anointed. Furthermore, God was
showing that what He had promised in
prophecy He could and would fulfill.
God is supreme in His attributes
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When we muse deeply on the
condescension of the Lord,
it is impossible to fail to
see the fullness of His love
and the immeasurableness of
the words, “Who gave
Himself” (Gal. 1:4; 2:20;
Eph. 5:25; 1 Tim. 2:6). No
words in English or any
other language, or blending
of every tongue under the
sun through every age, could
describe the humbling of the
Lord. He left the splendor
of glory to come into the
world to be born in a
manger; to come unto His own
and be rejected; to know
before He ever came the
purpose for which He was
coming; the intensity of
satanic hatred that would be
spewed out on Him; the
dreadfulness of being God
forsaken when bearing my
sins curse; for it is
written, “Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree”
(Gal. 3:13).
Well may we sing: |
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On such love my soul
still ponder, love so great
so full so free,
Say while lost in holy
wonder, “Why O Lord such
love to me?” |
As we approach this
Christmas may our hearts be
drawn closer to the One who
left so much to give so much
and in the words and as we
look upon the Baby and then
at Calvary, reconsider the
modified words of Winston
Churchhill, “Never in the
history of human conflict is
so much owed by so many as
to this one Blessed man”. |
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