The Birth

Well, Gaius Octavius was born a wealthy and powerful Roman family in 63 BC.

His father was a Roman senator, but more importantly, his uncle was the great Roman general turned dictator.

His name was Julius Caesar.

When a few conspirators, particularly some close friends of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius, assassinated him in 44 BC,

it was discovered that he had secretly adopted Octavius, Gaius Octavius,

which made Octavius the legal heir to Julius Caesar and put him in a position of potentially gaining tremendous power over Rome.

It was then that he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, which we just use in English.

We shorten it to Octavian.

From there, a political drama unfolds, particularly between Octavius and another senator in Rome named Mark Antony.

Antony was married to Octavian's sister, but decided to divorce her in order to pursue an adulterous affair with a woman by the name of Cleopatra,

who was the queen of Egypt.

This was the final straw for Octavian, which led to a war between he and Antony,

which led to the defeat, I believe, at Actium of Antony and Cleopatra, who ultimately committed suicide in 31 BC.

Then, through a series of shrewd political maneuvers, Octavian became the first and perhaps the most important emperor of the Roman Empire.

At this point in Roman history, it's at this point that really the republic that it had become known for was really dead at this point.

With Octavian, we see the birth of the Roman Empire, and he becomes really the first emperor of that empire.

Now, his reign brought incredible prosperity to the expanse of the empire.

Under his leadership, Rome excelled significantly, made significant strides economically.

They made significant strides agriculturally.

They made significant strides in the arts.

He contributed to the incredible road system that connected all of the world together, seemingly.

And he's responsible for ushering in the Pax Romana, which we call the Roman Peace.

And recognizing his contributions, the Senate conferred upon Octavian the premier title of Caesar Augustus.

Augustus, meaning holy or reverend, up until that point had been reserved in Roman culture only for the gods.

People considered Octavian to be a savior.

One ancient inscription actually writes that Octavian was the savior of the whole world.

One historian wrote that when Augustus died in A.D. 14, the people, quote, comforted themselves,

reflecting that Augustus was a god and that gods do not truly die.

But while much of the world was lauding who they thought was a god and savior in Rome,

something much more glorious than they could ever imagine was taking place in this little town of Bethlehem in Judea.

It says Kent Hughes, the baby Mary carried, was not a Caesar.

He was not a Caesar who was a man who would become a god, but a far greater wonder, the true god who had become a man.

That's the story that begins to unfold here in Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Though his conception was a miracle unlike any other, there was nothing extraordinary about Jesus' actual birth.

In fact, we can read through these first seven verses and really there's nothing remarkable about them.

It's actually quite ordinary.

The circumstances aren't necessarily ordinary, but the way things began to unfold, at least at this point, is really quite ordinary.

In fact, that's kind of what's most noteworthy about it is how unremarkable it actually was.

We'd be hard-pressed to think of a more difficult and demeaning circumstance in which to give birth to a child.

Rather than in a palace surrounded by all the comforts possible,

the Son of God was born amidst the filth of animals.

Indeed, the contrast between Augustus in Rome and Jesus in Bethlehem couldn't be greater.

In Rome was a self-proclaimed God that valued glory and power above all else.

Jesus, however, willingly set aside the glory of heaven's throne

to become a man in order to save men from their sins.

It's a very different picture that we see between the two.

Luke rooted his record of Jesus' birth year in a historical reality

and also emphasized its prophetic significance.

We're going to talk about all of those things this morning.

But of course, his purpose in all of this was not to give us a unique tale to ponder

or to pass on to our children during the Christmas season.

His purpose was to give us certainty that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Son of God

and the true Savior of the world.

The point that Luke is getting across here is not to entertain us with a tale.

His point and his purpose here is to persuade us to believe.

He is giving us the good news of great joy,

as we've been calling it over these last few weeks.

Three simple things I want to point out about these seven verses.

The first thing I want to point out to you is that Christ's birth is fixed in history.

Christ's birth is fixed in history.

Look at the first three verses with me again.

In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria

and all went to be registered, each to his own town.

Ever since the birth of Jesus, there have been efforts to deny the historic reliability of this nativity story.

In fact, the people involved in these events were convinced.

Of course they were.

How could they not be convinced?

But no one else seemed to believe them.

Have you ever thought it unusual that with all of the extravagance that went into the angels appearing to

Zechariah and Elizabeth and then to Mary and Joseph and then the circumstances that lead Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem

and then the angels appearing to the shepherds and then the magi that traveled from so far.

All of these extravagant things happening with the birth of Jesus.

Have you ever thought it unusual that no one else seemed to talk about it?

With something so grand, something so awesome, how was this not the talk of the town in Bethlehem?

How was this not the talk of the town in Israel and in Judea at this point?

And the simple answer to that must be that though the people involved in the story were convinced of the truthfulness of it,

no one else really was.

I mean, who of us would believe this story?

No one had an iPhone in that day to video the angel when he comes and delivers the message.

There was, there's no way to just stop and say, hey, let me get a selfie with you, Gabriel, here before you head back to heaven.

There's no way for them to provide evidence, right?

It's just stories.

And it probably wasn't until the growth of Jesus' popularity as a healer and as a teacher later on

that anyone really began to consider the old stories of angels and shepherds and magi and of virgin birth.

Several years ago, an atheist organization ran a series of Christmas billboards in New York City

to promote their particular denial.

I wish I would have put a picture of it on the screen for you to see.

If you want to see it, I'll show it to you after a service.

But basically, the way the billboard was, it was huge.

It was throughout the city.

And on the top was a picture of Santa Claus.

And it said, keep the Mary, keep the Mary, M-E-R-R-Y, keep the Mary with Santa Claus.

And then just below that picture was a picture of Jesus on a cross.

And it said, dump the myth.

So here, this was 2014, I think, or 2013.

Here is all of these billboards throughout the city promoting this idea that all of this stuff

about this nativity story, it's all mythological.

There is nothing historical about it.

It's not real.

And of course, people have said that for quite some time.

But really, to assert that the biblical narrative is mythological is actually intellectually dishonest.

You don't have to come to the same conclusions that we would as believers

about why this was happening and exactly the extent that it happened.

But to deny the historical reliability of it is actually irresponsible.

Even secular historians, both ancient and modern,

though they may not arrive at those same conclusions,

recognize the historical reliability of the New Testament documents.

Tacitus, the Roman from the first century.

Later on, Josephus, the Jewish historian,

all recognized the historical validity of Jesus' life

and the things that his disciples were teaching,

things that they truly believed were true about his life,

including his birth and his death and his resurrection.

And then we move on through history and we see,

even those who would not come to the same conclusions as us,

about faith in Christ acknowledge that these documents are historically reliable,

at least Luke really believed that this was true.

And Luke wrote a historical document.

C.S. Lewis, who lived a lot of his life as an atheist,

later in reflecting after his conversion,

wrote,

I have been reading poems,

romances,

vision literature,

legends and myths,

all my life.

I know what they are like.

I know none of them are like this,

he says.

And he's right.

Some of you enjoy to read fantasy and fiction

and things like that.

You know this is not that.

This does not read like that.

It's not intended to be like that.

Leading off in verse 1 with,

in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus.

That's quite a different approach than a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

That is not the same thing.

It's not the same intention.

It's not the same type of writing.

In fact, Luke was a Greek doctor.

He's a companion of the Apostle Paul,

who was particularly thorough in his writings.

Flip back just to chapter 1 here.

Look at the first four verses of the book.

Luke describes what he's actually trying to accomplish in writing this gospel.

He says,

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative

of the things that have been accomplished among us,

just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses

and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,

it seemed good to me also,

having followed all things closely for some time past,

to write an orderly account for you,

most excellent Theophilus,

that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Well, it's Luke's method here.

Well, his method involved interviewing eyewitnesses, he says,

in order that he might provide an orderly account,

sounds like a doctor to me,

provide an orderly account,

that gives historical certainty, he says,

concerning the things of Christ.

That's his goal.

That's his aim here.

He's not writing fiction.

He's trying to persuade.

By acknowledging Caesar Augustus,

Quirinius,

the census,

Luke was rooting the narrative of Jesus' birth

in historical reality

with real people

in actual places

at a precise time.

Luke's readers then

can recognize the circumstances

that actually brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem,

and they're reasonable circumstances.

There's no angel that lifts them up out of Nazareth

and delivers them to Bethlehem

just in order to try to make the stories fit.

That's not happening here.

Designating an exact census,

I don't know if you've ever considered this,

but designating an exact census,

and there were a few of them

that are listed in the New Testament,

but this particular one

meant there was a house of records somewhere

to where somebody reading this narrative

could go and find documentation

about this particular census,

there being a man from Nazareth named Joseph

who came to Bethlehem to register his family,

and here's the details of his family.

Here's his betrothed wife, Mary,

perhaps, depending on when the census actually occurred,

perhaps Jesus would even be listed on that.

There would be historical documentation

for the people originally reading this book.

God had so moved the wills of human history

that Jesus' birth occurred

at precisely the right time

for us to have certainty of its truth.

And Paul reflects on this in Galatians 4, doesn't he?

When the fullness of time had come, he says,

God sent forth his Son,

born of woman, born under the law,

to redeem those who were under the law

so that we might receive adoptions as sons.

When the fullness of time had come,

in other words, at just the right time,

God did this thing.

This was not coincidence.

It didn't just kind of happen this way,

and God decided retroactively

to look back on it and say,

this fits pretty well.

Let's make Jesus the Son of God and Messiah.

No, this was actually all God's plan.

He orchestrated this whole thing.

You don't know why he chose this particular time,

but there's no doubt that he did.

Augustus' rule over Rome

prepared the way for that census

that forced Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem,

which is so necessary.

And how assuring it is to believers' hearts

to consider the sovereign power of God

in orchestrating the events of world history

to accomplish his saving purposes.

That brings assurance to me,

because if God was willing to do all of this,

that means that he's not only in control,

but he's working all things together for good

to them who love God

and are the called according to his purpose.

That's what we see.

Marshall Howard said,

the census serves to place the birth of Jesus

in the context of world history

and to show that the fiat of an earthly ruler

can be utilized in the will of God

to bring his more important purposes to fruition.

We hear all kinds of stories that we wish were true,

but we know they must not be true.

The Bible, however, tells the story of salvation,

written with historical certainty and reliability.

It's not a fairy tale or a myth,

meaning it is truly good news that can bring great joy.

And Luke's intention was to remind us of that.

So that's the first thing that we see.

Christ's birth is fixed in history.

It's reliable.

Secondly, Christ's birth is the fulfillment of prophecy.

So once we understand, according to Luke's structure here,

that this is a real occurrence, this really happened,

here's the time frame that it happened,

real people, real places, precise time.

Then we can start to ask the questions,

well, is there any real significance

that would validate Mary's story here?

We know that Jesus was really born.

Records would indicate he was really born in Bethlehem

and all that stuff is true.

But what about the whole son of God,

angels, Messiah kind of thing?

Well, that's when we get to this second part.

It is the fulfillment of prophecy.

Look at verse four.

Joseph also went up from Galilee,

from the town of Nazareth to Judea,

to the city of David,

which is called Bethlehem,

because he was of the house and lineage of David,

to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,

who was with child.

The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem,

probably 80 to 90 miles,

they would have traveled.

Probably took them close to a week

to accomplish this,

at least in Mary's condition, right?

And there's a lot that we don't actually know about this journey.

There's a lot of gaps that are left wide open for us, isn't there?

We often assume that Mary rode there on a donkey,

but given their financial situation,

there's a real chance that Mary,

at this advanced stage in her pregnancy,

probably had to walk the 80 to 90 miles.

The Bible never says she rode on a donkey.

She could have,

but it doesn't say that.

This is a tough journey for her.

We don't exactly know how she got there.

Could have been that there was a caravan of people

traveling from Galilee down to Jerusalem

and on then to Bethlehem.

Maybe they were able to tag along

and ride along on some type of wagon

or another animal or something like that.

We don't know.

That's just conjecture too.

We don't even know exactly why Mary went with Joseph.

The census wouldn't have required that.

Only the leader of the household

would have been required to go,

most likely,

to the place of their lineage

to actually fulfill the duties of this census.

Mary probably didn't even have to go.

So we're not exactly sure why she did.

And of course,

common sense would tell us

that Joseph wanted to keep Mary close by.

She's clearly at the very end of her term

as far as her pregnancy is concerned.

We don't know all the stuff

that's going into this journey.

All we know is that they made the journey together.

But we don't need to let the absence of information worry us

because that's not Luke's intention.

He's not trying to tell us

all of the details about the journey.

His intention is to tell us

the reasons why Joseph and Mary

ended up in Bethlehem

because the whole Bethlehem part of this

is so important.

Why were they there?

The significance of these verses

lies in the fact

that they record the fulfillment of prophecies

given by God hundreds of years before.

Two in particular

are directly addressed here in these verses.

The first one

had to do with the Davidic covenant

that this long-awaited Messiah

would come through the house and lineage

of King David.

Matthew's genealogy in Matthew chapter 1

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

and then Luke's emphasis here

on Joseph's heritage

serve to show that Jesus' birth

fulfills this prophecy.

So it's not just about the fact that Jesus historically

was born in Bethlehem.

It's also about the fact

that being born in Bethlehem

means that he fits the parameters

of what God said the Messiah would be.

2 Samuel chapter 7

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

this is where God gives his covenant to David.

When your days are fulfilled

and you lie down with your fathers

I will raise up your offspring after you

who shall come from your body

and I will establish his kingdom.

You say well that could be about Solomon.

It could be

but then he goes on

he shall build a house for my name

and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Remember that doesn't apply to Solomon.

In fact that doesn't apply to anybody else

that came in David's line.

That can apply to one person alone.

That's this Messiah king

that Israel had longed for.

And Israel understood this Davidic covenant

to be a reference to this Messiah king.

And the prophets affirm this.

In Isaiah chapter 11

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

there shall come forth a shoot

from the stump of Jesse.

Jesse was David's father.

And a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.

The spirit of wisdom and understanding.

The spirit of counsel and might.

The spirit of knowledge

and the fear of the Lord.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

Now remember Isaiah is writing these things

long after David and Solomon

and the age of the good kings

that we would say.

Then Jeremiah picks it up.

Jeremiah 23

Behold the days are coming

declares the Lord

when I will raise up for David

a righteous branch

and he shall reign as king

and deal wisely

and shall execute justice

and righteousness in the land.

All of these prophecies

pointing toward a savior

a Messiah king

who would rule

and be from the line of David.

And his rule would be an eternal rule

as the emphasis here.

And so Luke emphasizes this.

He says remember

and he emphasizes it greatly in verse 4.

Remember Joseph is from David's line.

Jesus' adopted father is from David's line.

And so was Mary

as you get to chapter 3

and as you reflect back on Matthew chapter 1.

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

No matter how you shake it up

Jesus' earthly parents

were of the house

and the lineage of David.

Which means that Jesus himself

comes from the house

and the lineage of King David.

The second prophecy

directly addressed here

has to do with the place

where this Messiah would be born.

And of course this is where Micah comes in.

Clementine maybe you'll remember this verse.

I think you quoted it last year

didn't you?

But you O Bethlehem Ephrathah

who are too little

to be among the clans of Judah

from you shall come forth

for me one who is to be ruler in Israel

whose coming forth is from old

from ancient of days.

There's a significance to this.

There's a significance to this place.

Now the birth of Jesus

fulfills both of those prophecies

and more.

The prophetic significance

of Jesus' birth

is about so much more

than the virgin conception.

That's a vital piece of it

but it's only a piece.

Now I want you to consider now

in the prophetic fulfillments

all the things that had to have been fulfilled

in order for Jesus

to truly be this Messiah.

Remember if only one prophecy

is left unfulfilled

it would be impossible

for Jesus to be our Savior.

Without the virgin birth

Jesus is not the Son of God.

Have to have the virgin birth piece.

If Mary had remained in Nazareth

rather than choosing to go on the journey

with Joseph to Bethlehem

if Jesus had been born in Nazareth

he could not have been the one

who was to come.

Without the ministry of John the Baptist

as the forerunner of the Christ

Jesus could not have been the Messiah.

Even if the rest of Jesus' life

happened exactly as it's recorded

in the scriptures

but only one of these prophecies

falls short.

Jesus could not have possibly

been the Messiah

and the Savior

and the ruler

and the king.

And we would be left in our sins.

Now if we were to take

all of these prophecies

from the Old Testament

we were to lay them side by side

and we would say

how are we

how are we going to find this

to be true in a person?

We say it's impossible

because this is in God's

divine providence

that this unfolds.

It is in the divine providence

of God

that every single prophecy

of this Savior king

was fulfilled

precisely

in Jesus of Nazareth

down to the minutest

detail

of the place

of his birth.

All of it.

All of it fulfilled.

It's not been fulfilled

this way

in any other person

ever.

Only one.

And Jesus

perfectly

fits it.

Of course

the ultimate validation

of Jesus' identity

is his resurrection

from the dead.

In fact

the resurrection

changes everything

doesn't it?

In fact

if you're struggling

with doubts

and you're trying

to see how all

these pieces

fit together

perhaps a good method

is to start at the end

and work your way

backwards.

You start with the resurrection

what does that tell us?

Well if Jesus

was able to raise

from the dead

there is something

significant about him

there must be

something divine

about him.

And you start to trace

those things backwards.

The resurrection

validates his crucifixion.

The fact that Jesus

rose from the dead

means that God

the Father

received

his crucifixion

as a sufficient

atonement

for our sins.

It means it worked.

It means the sacrifice

was good.

It was holy.

It was perfect.

It means forgiveness

can actually be achieved.

The resurrection

verifies

Jesus' miracles

were about

so much more

than

bringing goodness

into the world.

It was about

more than that.

It was about

his identity

and who he was.

It was more than

just a gift

for a particular

people at a particular

time.

The resurrection

gives us confidence

in the truthfulness

of the scriptures.

If Jesus

rose from the dead

that means there

must be something

significantly divine

about him

and Jesus said

that the scriptures

were God's word.

So then

surely they must

be God's word.

resurrection

brings

certainty

to the fact

that Jesus' birth

was indeed

the fulfillment

of these

messianic predictions.

It means that

the baby

in Bethlehem

has the power

to forgive sins

and give eternal life

to all who will

believe and follow him.

It's good news

of great joy.

So we see

the birth of Christ

is fixed in history.

It is the fulfillment

of the Old Testament

prophecies,

every one of them

being fulfilled

and proven in him.

Thirdly and finally,

Christ's birth

is characterized

by humility.

It's characterized

by humility.

Look with me

at verse 6.

While they were there,

the time came

for her to give birth.

she gave birth

to her firstborn son

and wrapped him

in swaddling clothes,

laid him in a manger

because there was

no place for them

in the inn.

Now,

this is where

unusual circumstances

come into play.

The birth itself,

there's nothing really

extraordinary about that.

Mary felt

every contraction.

She felt

every pain.

She went through

all the processes

that you women

who have given birth

have gone through.

She went through

all of those things.

There wasn't anything

extraordinary

about that part of it.

But this is an

unusual circumstance.

They've traveled

to Bethlehem.

We don't know

how long

they were in Bethlehem

before the time

came for her

to give birth.

But all the indications

of the passage

say this was fast

and sudden.

They had not even yet

found a place

to settle in

to stay

for however long

it was going to be

necessary for them

to stay.

Accommodations,

from what I understand

in reading,

accommodations

for travelers

in Bethlehem

and in places like it

would have been

quite primitive

especially during

seasons of crowdedness

as this would have been.

The word that's used

for in

is not a typical

Greek word

for a hotel

what would be used

as a hotel

in that sense.

More like a campground

is really the idea

that would match

what we would think

of it as.

From what I've read

the situation

would be something

like an enclosure

that had different

stalls around

the perimeter.

Stalls where

these travelers

would come

and then

whoever owned

the property

or ran the property

whatever it was

would have

in the middle

of these enclosures

had a courtyard

!

A common courtyard

where they would

have the animals

that were necessary

for them to bring

as they traveled.

The responsibility

of what we would say

is an innkeeper

or whoever's running

the deal here

the responsibility

that they had

was to provide

fodder for the animals

and then some type

of fire.

Really that's it.

So when Mary and Joseph

get there

they find that

these stalls are full

there's no stall

that's actually available

to them.

Our decorative

nativity sets

portray a cozy

kind of quaint

even private

stable

but there really

was no such setting

available to this

young teenage couple

who's just made

this 80 or 90

mile journey.

Customary doors

of hospitality

were shut

in their face.

The young virgin

was forced

to give birth

in the middle

of a communal

courtyard

meant for livestock

and you can only

imagine what that

must have been like.

People talk about

all the time

you know

the birth of your child

is something

that you never

forget.

It's entrenched

in your memory

and surely

even for us men

it's entrenched

in our memory

maybe for different

reasons but it's there.

It's one of the most

bizarre experiences

of my life.

A good experience

but bizarre.

And when Julie

gave birth

to our girls

it was in a

comfortable hospital

there was

heat

very high heat.

I don't know

why they cranked

the heat up so high

in those rooms

when this happens

and there's

not just a doctor

or a midwife

there's lots of them.

There's people everywhere

and they're all

coaching you

and there's all

the machinery

and there's all

the stuff

all the stuff

that they have you do.

Mary has none of that.

You can imagine

it's just her

and Joseph.

She's 12

13

14 years old.

Joseph

probably wasn't

much older

maybe a little

but probably

not much.

She has no idea

what this experience

is going to be like

except for however

it's been described

to her by other

women in her life.

Perhaps she was there

for John's birth

and was able to

experience at least

in that extent.

And now she's forced

into a not so private

communal courtyard

Filled with animals.

Kent Hughes says

it was wretched

scandalous.

There was sweat

and pain

and blood

and cries

as Mary reached up

to the heavens

for help.

The smell of birth

mixed with

the stench

of manure

and acrid straw

made a contemptible

bouquet.

Trembling

carpenter's hands

clumsy with fear

grasped

God's son.

The baby's

limbs

waving

helplessly

as if falling

through space.

His face

grimacing

as he grasped

in the cold

and his cry

pierced

the night.

There's no

comfort of a mother.

There's no

assistance

from a midwife.

There's no

Clorox wipes

to clean out

the feeding trough

that she had

to lay the baby

in.

Unlike

Caesar Augustus

Jesus was the

king that

everybody needed

but no one

seemed to want.

No one

makes room.

No one

helps them.

The birth

of this

Messiah

could not

have been

more lowly.

It could not

have been

more humble

which of course

is the point

of it all.

That's the

point.

The creator

of the universe

enters our

world

taking true

humanity

with all

of its

brokenness.

He faced

every heartache

every temptation

every struggle

of life

in a sinful

world

but he did

so without

ever sinning

himself.

This makes

him a savior

and a mediator

according to

Hebrews

that is

perfectly able

to sympathize

with our

weaknesses

while maintaining

his power

to rescue

us from

those weaknesses.

King of heaven

now the

friend of

sinners

humble servant

in the

father's hands

filled with

power and

the Holy

Spirit

filled with

mercy

mercy

for the

broken

man.

Yes he

walked my

road

and he

felt my

pain

joys and

sorrows

that I

know so

well

yet his

righteous

steps

give me

hope

again

I will

follow

my

Emmanuel.

That's the

whole point

of the

thing.

It was

his divine

love

and desire

to save

sinners

that led

Jesus to

so willingly

humble

himself

in this

way.

But the

surest sign

of his

humility

wasn't his

birth in

Bethlehem

it was his

death in

Jerusalem.

Philippians 2

you know the

passage well

have this

mind among

yourselves

which is

yours in

Christ Jesus

who though

he was in

the form

of God

did not

count

equality

with God

a thing

to be

grasped

but emptied

himself

and taking

the form

of a

servant

being born

in the

likeness

of men

and being

found in

human form

he humbled

himself

by becoming

obedient to

the point

of death

even death

on a cross.

You see

this

characterization

of humility

the humble

nature of

the Messiah

is the

entire

point

that the

God of

heaven

endured

so much

out of

his love

for man

out of

his desire

to save

us

the pinnacle

of that

humility

being

a criminal's

death

the perfect

son of

God

nailed to

a cross

by the

people he

came to

save

Luke's

telling of

the birth

of

Jesus

is intended

to give

us

certainty

that God

has provided

salvation

through him

we get

the certainty

through the

historical

existence

of Christ

we see

the prophetic

fulfillment

we see

his divine

humility

but God

doesn't

desire

for us

to gain

mere

intellectual

certainty

there's a

difference

here

we can

sit down

with our

neighbor

and we

can go

through

the notes

that I've

given you

today

and you

can

highlight

all the

things

and you

can win

them

intellectually

maybe

to your

perspective

but

intellectual

agreement

with the

facts

is not

the same

thing

as saving

faith in

Christ

as Lord

and Savior

he doesn't

call us

simply to

agree with

the facts

he calls

us

invites

us

to repent

of sin

and trusting

Christ alone

as the only

means of

reconciliation

with God

you see

that's where

people get

tripped up

they're not

so opposed

to the

things of

Jesus

as far as

the stories

are concerned

and even

in our

particular age

they're fine

to listen

Amy mentioned

last Sunday

night

at our

fellowship

co-workers

even that she

has

who are

introducing

their kids

to Christianity

at Christmas

not because

they're

Christian

but because

they just

want them

to have

a well-rounded

understanding

of religions

and cultures

and things

like that

it's a whole

different thing

those kids

can go through

and learn

all the facts

and give

assent

to all

the facts

and still

go to hell

because it's

not about

giving intellectual

assent

to the facts

it's about

coming to a

place where

you see

the exclusivity

of Christ

Christ alone

brings salvation

Christ alone

can save me

from my sins

Christ alone

reconciles me

to the Father

so Luke writes

this not just

to say

here's the stuff

here's the facts

he gives the facts

in order that

he can say

now believe

believe

and follow Christ

believe

turn

from your sin

because the message

is good news

it's gospel news

but it's only good

if it's received

by faith

that's the only

way it brings

great joy

and you say

well what are we

what is it

exactly

what we're

supposed to do

with this

with these

things

and well

it depends

on who you

are

if you're

a believer

be confident

in the truth

of the Bible

it's

sometimes we

get this idea

that the things

that God

has given us

in the word

are just kind

of like

barely hanging

on by a thread

that if

one atheist

just pulls

just the right

thread

it's all

going to

fall apart

and you

need to

remember

that for

thousands

of years

now

they've been

trying to

pull those

threads

and the

Bible

has stood

the test

of time

it cannot

be defeated

your greatest

doubts

will not be

able to

defeat the

truth of

God's word

and when you

come to a

passage like

this you

can use

logic

and the

reason

that God

has given

you

to develop

the confidence

necessary

in the truth

of the Bible

and then

the confidence

of those

factual things

produces

worship

that's what

these Christmas

services are

about

that's what

that nativity

set on your

counter is

about

it's to bring

you to a

place of

worship

if you're a

believer

that's your

response

have confidence

in the truth

have confidence

to share the

truth and then

allow it to

drive you to

worship

maybe you're

a sufferer

here today

and perhaps

when you come

to this

passage you

are reminded

that Jesus

knows your

suffering

that there's

no suffering

you've experienced

that he did

not also

experience

he knows

he sympathizes

with your

weakness

receive his

comfort

maybe you're

a doubter

and if you're

a doubter

I just beg

you to

consider the

evidence

there is

abundant

evidence

consider it

if you're

a sinner

I invite

you to

turn to

Jesus

today

only he

can save

your sin

and that's

exactly what

he came

to do

we read

it in

John 3

God did

not send

his son

into the

world

to condemn

the world

not this

time

that time

comes at

the end

where he

will come

to condemn

the world

that time

has not

yet

occurred

God

sent

his son

into the

world

in order

that he

might

save

them

and he

says the

way that

you receive

this salvation

is through

faith

he that

believes

is not

condemned

but he

who does

not

believe

he's

condemned

already

you say

what am

I supposed

to do

cry out

to God

for mercy

acknowledging

that only

in Jesus

Christ

in his

crucifixion

and resurrection

is that

mercy

even possible

repent

from your

sin

trust in

him

faithfully

follow

for

reason

aspire to

aspire to

aspire to

aspire to

aspire to

aspire to

aspire to

aspire to

aspire to

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