The Wonder of Christ’s Birth - In the Fullness of Time

So the story is told about a man who got tired of the Christmas hoopla at a

frantic haste and in preparation for this,

and the crass commercialism really disgusted him.

So he decided not to go along with the crowd.

He said this year, among other things, he decided he was not going to send out

Christmas cards, feeling that the expense and the effort were non-productive.

For the first 10 days of December he felt good about his decision but then as

the mail brought him greetings from friends near and far he began to feel more

and more guilty about not sending out cards.

Finally four days before Christmas he couldn't stand it any longer so he rushed

down to the drugstore and grabbed the only box of cards still on the shelf.

He bought it, purchased stamps, rushed home, addressed the cards frantically

all evening. He addressed and sent out 49 cards.

He had one card left over, which he tossed on the mantle. That very evening,

he drove down to the post office and mailed those cards.

The next day, he was strolling through the house, and his eye happened to fall

on that extra card on the mantle.

And suddenly it occurred to him that he had hastily addressed those Christmas

cards, which I know every one of us has done, and he signed all those cards

and he mailed all of them out, but he had not actually read what the cards said.

So he grabbed the card and he took a look, and this is what he saw.

This cheery card has come to say, a gift from us is on the way.

The whole meaning of the Advent season prior to Christmas is this,

a gift from God is on the way.

The basic reason we offer Christmas gifts to each other is to honor and reflect

the only, the one and only perfect gift ever offered, the gift of God through

a Bethlehem baby named Jesus.

And so in the fullness of time, God sent his son.

People tend to gravitate to one or two camps concerning Christmas.

There are those who say, I just love this time of year. I wish it could last all year long.

And then there are those who say, I can't wait for Christmas to be over and

done with so we can get busy with other things again.

I suppose it's all a matter of how we look at life and how we look at things.

Well, Christmas Day is almost here, and both camps can be happy.

Soon, those who wish for Christmas to be over can be satisfied that Christmas

will be here, and we can take down the Christmas tree afterwards,

and we can put it away, and it'll soon be over.

We don't have to worry about all that mess again, at least for another year.

And yet you could join those who wish for Christmas to last all year long and

understand that Christ's birth is just the beginning of our joy.

When we were in Michigan in one of our houses, Nancy, we had Christmas.

We had not real Christmas trees, but artificial Christmas trees.

And we, Nancy, put a Christmas tree in almost every room in our house.

In fact, in our daughter's rooms, they each had a Christmas tree,

and our room was a Christmas tree, and she decorated it different.

Our oldest daughter wanted her Christmas tree to be decorated with green and gold.

You know where she comes from, from that great Pastor Tim family and love for

Green Bay Packers. But anyway, so hers was decorated Green Bear Packard.

But we had different things, and we even had dressed up trees with the Christmas symbols of the year.

But Christmas is an important thing, but it also depends on the perspective, isn't it?

So we're going to have Marty is going to be reading our scripture from Luke

Luke 2:1–7

2, verses 1-7, and then Galatians 4, 4-7.

In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that census should be taken of the entire Roman world.

This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

Everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the

town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David,

because he belonged to the house and line of David.

He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,

and she gave birth to her firstborn son.

She wrapped him in clothes, placed him in a manger, because there was no guest

room available for them.

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman,

born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

Because you are his sons, God sent the spirit of his son in our hearts,

the spirit who calls us Abba, Father.

So you are no longer a slave, but God's child.

And since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

So William Barclay once said, in a world that's bent on getting,

the Christmas, the Christian must be bent on giving, for we know that what we

keep, we lose, and what we give, we have.

In the fullness of time, God sent his Son.

Galatians chapter 4, as we've read, verses 4 through 5 says,

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

but when the time had fully come,

God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law

that we might receive the full rights of his birth as sons.

Why was the time when Jesus was born the right time?

Why did God choose the land of Israel as the birthplace of Jesus,

why was Jesus born about the year 5 or 6 B.C.

And not some other year?

Well, in the fullness of time, when the time was right, Jesus came.

God created the first human couple, Adam and Eve, and the Bible scholars estimate

that by 3000 B.C., the world population was about 100 million.

If you follow the begats in the Old Testament, Adam was created about 2,000

years before Abraham was born.

Now, Abraham lived from 2166 to 1991 BC.

Moses lived from 1526 to 1406 BC.

And during his time, Genesis was written.

King David reigned over Israel 1010 to 997 BC. Isaiah lived as prophet from 740 to 680 B.C.

Those prophets continued, and those who were considered the minor prophets,

Joel through Malachi, were active from 800 B.C.

To about 400 B.C., and then there was a period of silence from about 400 B.C.

To the birth of Christ where we don't see any record except in the Catholic

tradition we have the books of Maccabees and Jubes and Estrus, something like that.

Anyway, they're historical records of that 400 years, but there's not really

any interaction that we see of God with man during those times.

And then after those silent years, Jesus was born about 5 or 6 B.C.,

and his death and resurrection took place at about 30 A.D..

It's interesting that we chronicle our time according to Christ.

BC, as you know, stands for before Christ, and AD stands for Anno Domini,

which is in the year of our Lord.

Now, scholars have changed that today because we just—everybody knows we've

got to take Christ out of things.

And so now we have BCE, which stands for before the common era,

and CE, which stands for common era. but it really is the same thing.

All of time was recorded by the coming of Christ.

And so from the time Genesis was written to the time of Moses,

to the time of Revelation,

to the writing of Revelation, there was a span of about 1,500 years,

yet the historical recordings cover a span of 3,500 to 5,000 years.

And so we see all of this and we wonder, why did God send his son at the specific time when he did?

Now, I know that calendars at that time, they didn't have B.C.

If you look at the Old Testament and recorded things, it would say in the sixth

year of such and such king, or in so many years of such and such king,

and they would record it that way.

But then when Jesus came, after that, we began to record things by B.C.

And C.E., everything according to Christ.

But why did God send Jesus when he did? Well, first thing we see is that Jesus

came at just the right time.

At just the right time, Jesus was born in a lowly stable.

The first advent of Jesus was known to a secluded group of people,

angels, shepherds, and later magi or wise men that traveled from the east.

The second advent or the second coming of Jesus with his majesty and will be

visible to every one of us.

The scriptures reveal that all people everywhere will witness the second coming

of Christ, and it'll be a cataclysmic event.

But that first Advent season came at just the right time, and just as the first

Advent came at right time, when Jesus came at just the right time,

we know that the second coming is going to be at just the right time.

You know, many of us look at what's going on and we kind of think,

Lord, you could come back anytime now. I'd be ready for it.

But the question is, will everybody else? And so our job in this is bringing

about the redemption of society.

We're on a mission with God, and we want to make sure that we are here at just

the right time to bring the message of Jesus to those that need it.

Biblical historians have shown politically, intellectually,

morally, and geographically that everything in the Greco-Roman world was ready

for the coming of Christ, including

the Roman oppression to the whole land and to the land of Israel.

So Jesus came at just the right time, but Jesus also came to the right place in time.

Of all the lands, Israel was the most fitted to be the scene of the redemption

and the revelation of God's grace to the person and work of Christ.

Palestine, that time, Israel was located in the junction of three great continents

of the world, Egypt, Syria, and the Assyrian empires.

You've got a map on, I think I do, I've got a map on here.

So you could, it's hard to see, but this is the land of Israel right along here.

The known worlds were Egypt down in here, Syria, and Assyria.

Okay, so all of this area is Syria, this is Syria up in here.

Those were the known worlds, and Israel was right in the center of those.

You can't hardly see it, but there's a yellow line that goes up along here.

It's called the Via Maris, or the Way of the Sea.

Then there's a highway yellow line that goes from here. It's called the King's

Highway, and kings from all the different countries would travel that route.

Egypt would travel along there.

Israel was right in the center of everything that was going on at that time.

The intent was that the Israelites would be there to influence society everywhere.

The beginning of time and all of the commerce and all that, God wanted to put

his people right in the very center of things so that anybody that wanted to

do any kind of commerce or any kind of business or any kind of travel had to go through them.

And the intent was that the Israelite people would influence,

God's chosen people would influence everybody around, society around.

What we hear, what we see in history is that what happened is the Israelites

thought, you know, there's a lot more powerful people than we are.

We're just a bunch of shepherds.

They hid in these mountains along in here and not along the main pass.

There's another road that goes cross country there.

So the Israelites kind of hid in there and God says, okay, so you're not doing

what you're supposed to do, so I've got to send somebody that's going to do it for you.

So Jesus was born right in the center of things.

Bethlehem is...

Eight miles from Jerusalem where the king would have been, king of Israel.

And so it was right in the center of things. Jesus was born at just the right

time, but he was also born at just the right place in time.

God had intended that the people of Israel, the chosen people,

would influence the world, and that is why we say this.

God is on a mission to redeem a lost world to himself, and he chooses to use

us, his chosen people to accomplish his mission.

Just as God put Jesus right where he was supposed to be, at just the right place

and time, God has put us at just the right place, at just the right time to

influence the world for him.

God's on a mission to redeem a lost world to himself, and he chooses to use

us, his chosen people, to accomplish this mission.

He wants us to be at the very center of commerce, of education,

of activity, of our neighborhoods, of our work, of our families, wherever we are,

God wants us to influence the world for the cause of the right to bring people

back to God, especially before his second coming.

The third thing we see is that Jesus came to provide salvation and redemption.

At just the right time, Jesus came to provide that redemption,

And now in 2024, Jesus comes at just the right time to save us from forgetting

the true meaning of Christmas.

Oftentimes we are so busy and all of that. We're kind of like that guy who rushes

to send out those cards and then realize what.

What it really said on there. Paul is writing to the church in Galatia,

was writing to remind them that there is only one true gospel message,

that God sent his son for redemption.

Everything was different after Christ's birth. Paul claimed God's plan in the

fullness of time was to redeem those who were under the law as if they were

not under the law, but under grace.

And so they went further. The fourth thing we see is that Jesus came to be our brother.

Can you imagine God, the creator of all things, had his one and only son born

in Bethlehem, and yet he chooses to choose us as his brothers,

Jesus' brothers and sisters.

We're joint heirs with Jesus, as the song says.

We are children of God. God wants us to be law-abiding believers,

but in this present age, He wants us to be more than that. He wants us to be his family.

God wants kids to complete the adoption process.

Paul declares God has done no less than to send the Spirit of his Son into our

hearts, making us God's very own from the inside out.

There's only one reason to celebrate

Christmas, and that is the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

The reason all of this was created, the reason all that we were created was

to be in relationship with God, and we have walked away from that.

But God sent his son to bring us back into relationship with God as children

of God, creation of God, loved by him.

We have fun talking about Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,

representing the gospel of materialism.

The world may compromise and keep the nativity scene out of our schools and

off of government property, but we choose to keep the wonder of Christ's birth alive.

We choose, in this midst of secularism and darkness, we choose to keep the good

news of the gospel at all costs.

There's a movie called The Hiding Place about the life of Corrie Ten Boom.

During World War II, and Corrie and her sister Betsy were confined to a Nazi concentration camp.

They were able to smuggle a Bible into camp, and many of the women were losing

heart and wondering where God was in that dark place.

Corrie gave them this challenge, if we don't remember to tell the story here

in this dark place, who is going to tell it?

So the purpose of Jesus' coming was to become our brother and for us to tell

the story of Christ. The fifth thing we see is Jesus came to call us to write worship.

Jesus came at the right time spiritually. During the Babylonian captivity,

God called Israel to turn away from the idolatry into which they had fallen.

The Jews had built synagogues for places of worship and school,

and when they completed that, those synagogues became almost their gods to them,

and Jesus came at the right time culturally.

Christians who spread the gospel during the first centuries really realized

that what Jesus came for is to introduce a new type of faith,

a faith that's built in the hearts.

We are no longer going to a synagogue or a church, a tabernacle.

The tabernacle is within us, and Jesus came at just the right time so that we

could worship him in truth and in spirit.

And finally, Jesus came to set people free.

Galatians chapter 4, verses 5 and 7 says this, to redeem those under the law

Galatians 4:5

that we might receive the full gifts of sons, so that no longer are we called slaves, but a son.

And since you are a son, God has made you also a joint heir with Christ.

At the same time of Christ, people were living in bondage and in captivity and

slavery. They were in physical captivity and slavery, but they were also in

spiritual captivity and slavery.

Family life was nearly non-existent. Prior to the time of Christ,

family life among the Romans had been a sacred thing, and for 520 years,

divorce had been unknown.

But during the time of Christ, marriage had been disregarded or regarded with disfavor.

Children regarded as a burden and a property, and their education was handed over to slaves.

The practice of abortion was a general custom in that time.

The birth of Jesus and his message was good news to all living as slaves and in bondage of sin.

Isaiah wrote, how beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who bring

good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion, your God, reigns.

So prophecy isn't just about Jesus.

Romans chapter 10 verses 13 through 15 says, everyone who calls on the name

Romans 10:13–15

of the Lord will be saved.

How then can we call on the one they have not believed in?

And how can they believe in the one whom they have not hurt?

And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

And how can they preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

You have been gifted with a special gift of Christ to bring good news to the poor.

Your feet are beautiful in the mountains, so we should go tell it on the mountains

and also in Richland Center.

So look at your feet. You don't have to take off your shoes.

Just kind of glance down there.

So tell me, when God created the bodies, which part is the most beautiful of

your body? Don't answer that out loud.

Scripture says how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

You probably would never consider your feet as beautiful with all of its corns

and bunions and everything else.

But the scripture says your feet are beautiful when you bring good news to the poor.

Many years ago, a candy maker had an idea.

He wanted to show through the candy he made that Jesus Christ was born among

us and lived and died to save us all.

So through the use of color and shape, he created a piece of candy that told

the story of Jesus from Christmas to Easter.

He started out with white stripes

on his candy to stand for the fact that Jesus was sinless and pure.

Then he made small red stripes to indicate the scourging that Jesus would endure

and did endure before he died.

And then one large stripe to show Jesus' blood shed on the cross.

If you look at candy canes, almost all of them have the same very coloration,

except when you start getting into cherry flavors and all that kind of stuff.

But they've got one large red stripe, three smaller red stripes,

and a white stripe that goes down through all of it.

Then he shaped his candy like a shepherd's staff to remind us that Jesus is the good shepherd.

Interesting thing, do you know what he made? He made the candy cane,

and all of us know this from time eternal, it seems like, since he created that at the beginning.

But did you know something else about this very interesting thing?

Turn the candy cane upside down and you have the letter J.

I don't think he designed it that way, but it's very interesting.

And so when we eat the candy canes at Christmas or hang them on our trees,

we're reminded that it was Jesus who came.

So let's keep the wonder of Christ's birth. Jesus came at the right time 2,000

plus years ago, and he's here at just the right time in 2024 to bring salvation

and redemption to all who believe.

He continues to bring good news to those who are oppressed and in the bondage of sin.

And so this Christmas season in 2024, you have this promise.

Whatever is holding you captive, Jesus can break you free from that sin.

Whatever is keeping you bondage to whatever activity, whatever addiction,

or whatever there might be, Jesus can set you free.

The scripture says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

And if we simply live to have Christ in our life, if we would like to have Christ

in our life, if you are listening on Facebook or the website,

or if you're here in person,

if you see this later, the question is, do you want Christ in your life?

The scripture says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

What does it mean to be saved?

It means to have all of our sin washed away and be saved from the future that

we should have because scripture tells us, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,

and the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through the.

Christ Jesus our Lord. So if you would like to do this, I would ask you to just

pause wherever you are, if you're on Facebook or even here, and just bow your

heads and just follow along with this prayer with me, and then talk with me afterwards.

You can give me a call or message me. Here is the prayer.

Jesus, I don't know how to pray, but I'm asking you to help me.

I know that I have lived in a way that isn't pleasing to you,

but you came to take my sin and my punishment, please forgive me.

Please come into my life and lead me and make me your child.

I love you. Amen. Now, if you have prayed that prayer, Merry Christmas.

It's a beautiful start.

If you would like to have more conversation about that, we can certainly do

that. But that's what Christmas is about.

Christ coming at just the right time, just the right place for just the right

reason to make us his brother and to redeem us. So let's pray.

Heavenly Father, as we close on this Christmas Sunday morning,

we know that so many of us have all kinds of activities planned with our families and with our friends.

And oftentimes our lives get so hectic that we forget why we even have Christmas.

And so, Father, this Christmas, we pray that you would help us to really focus

on the story of what Christ came for.

Father, I pray that you would, if any of those have prayed this prayer,

have asked you to forgive them and redeem them.

Father, we ask that your Spirit will enter them as you have promised to do so.

And we pray, Father, that our hearts would be made new in you.

In Jesus' name, amen.