"The Genesis of Christmas" Part 3

I invite you to open your Bibles to Matthew, chapter 1. We will be looking a bit in Genesis, as we have been, as we continue to think of the

Genesis of Christmas. We've been thinking about the connection between the book of Genesis and the gospel stories that recount the birth of Christ and all that occurred in connection to that.

It's important for us to remember that all of God's promises are granted to Christ for all of God's people who are gathered in Christ.

And so when we look at the Christmas season, and we focus on Jesus Christ and the announcement of his birth, and all the focus that is attended to it, we should remember that what was spoken of and what

God dealt with in the book of Genesis really comes to focus, and the rest of the

Old Testament comes to focus, in the arrival of Jesus Christ. And that's what we've been trying to concentrate on.

And we've been thinking about three key words. The first word is seed. And we noticed that in the beginning of the

Gospels, there was a large focus on the genealogies of Christ.

And we see that emphasis, especially in Matthew and in Luke. And we also find a very strong connection in the

Gospel of John to Genesis. In the beginning was God, Genesis says, in the beginning was the word,

John says. And there seems to be a very strong focus on Genesis when it comes to the story of Christ's birth.

And we trace the lineage of the seed through Genesis, and we see the same kind of tracing in the

Gospels. And I think that we see the clarity of the importance of that genealogy when we see

Jesus Christ as the seed promised long ago. And even when you go to Revelation chapter 12, and you see that the dragon was unable to consume the seed, and the ultimate victory is

Christ's, that helps us. And we talked about the fact that when we're thinking of the Genesis of Christmas, we're thinking about the origins of Christmas and perhaps some of the traditions that we celebrate.

And maybe we need to put a few more traditions into our normal routines and to showcase in our

Christmas celebrations what the Holy Spirit makes significant in the text. And so I suggested that perhaps in our nativity scenes, we ought to put some sort of snake or dragon nearby that we would knock off the table come

Christmas day. And we also notice the focus on the name, the different names of the

Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Word, the light of the world.

And we see all these names given to us about who Christ is. And why is that significant?

What's the connection to Genesis? Well, as we go back to the genealogies about the seed, at various key moments, space is given for some of the ancestors of Christ.

And their names are highlighted, the meaning of their names, either attending the circumstances of their birth or the significance of what they would do in their lives.

And this is just preparation for us to focus on the importance of the seed and the names that are given to Christ.

And perhaps another tradition that we might employ today and tomorrow is to adorn our

Christmas celebrations with the names of Christ and share with one another a name of Christ that is significant to us in our walk with Christ, as something that we might do.

After all, the Spirit makes it significant in the text, the names of Christ. We ought to showcase what the

Spirit makes significant in the text. With that same sense of worship, we come to our third term, which is the term word.

There is a message, there is a greeting, there is a word that should be shared among us on Christmas Day.

And I think we can see that in our text. If you would turn with me to Matthew chapter one, and if you would stand with me as I read the text for us, we'll begin in verse 20.

As Joseph is considering what to do, and let's hear the word of the Lord. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the

Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take

Mary as your wife. For the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, you shall call his name

Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. You may be seated.

Let me pray for us as we begin to consider the greetings of Christmas. Father, we come before you this morning and we just thank you for the opportunity to worship together and to pay attention to the message that you have here for us.

I pray that we really would use our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for maximal glory to you.

That we would purpose ourselves to showcase in our celebrations what the spirit makes significant in the text.

That our traditions would be, above all things, biblical and God -honoring. We pray these things for Christ's sake, with whom you are well -pleased.

Amen. Now, I do want to look at the greetings, especially in Luke as well.

But I want you to consider some of the greetings that have become more popular as of late.

Merry Christmas doesn't do the job, apparently, for some. Perhaps it is too specific of a job. And so we've come up with happy holidays and season greetings and those kinds of things.

And it seems to me that this is a euphemism that would distract attention from the significance of the season.

That is indeed is about the arrival of Jesus Christ, the advent of Christ, the light has come into the world.

And perhaps that's why some prefer to say season's greetings, because as Jesus says in John 3 to Nicodemus, this is the condemnation that the light has come into the world and men love the darkness rather than the light for their deeds were evil.

And perhaps it is what is at stake that there's such significance to saying

Merry Christmas that some just prefer to say Happy Holidays. But even that perhaps is too specific because we talk about holy days.

And so season's greetings attempts to be what very often you might find annoying when you listen to your voicemail and you hear this.

And you keep listening, hoping that the person who left you the voicemail will begin speaking, but all you hear is this.

And the attempt is to vacate the meaning out of the greeting so as to engage in a risk free celebration.

Where we're not saying anything of too much substance or too much accountability. And I wonder at that euphemism, why is that euphemism not applied to other holidays?

After all, Patrick and Valentine were both Christians. St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day don't get the same treatment, do they?

I mean, nobody puts on a green suit and a green top hat, goes out and chugs green beer and says to his mates, season's greetings.

And no sane husband goes out and gets two dozen roses and a box of chocolates and with a flourish presents them to his wife and says, season's greetings.

No, what's at stake? I think the greetings are of utmost importance.

I think it does matter what we say to one another. I think it does matter that we are to, in agreement with the scriptures, showcase light in the darkness, to speak gospel greetings to one another.

And I think we see that in our text. The angel comes to Joseph and tells him a thing or two, but specifically saying, you shall call his name

Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. The angel greets

Joseph and puts his attention upon the gospel. We ought to greet one another around Christmas and put our attention upon the gospel.

What about Luke chapter one and Luke chapter two? Don't we find greetings there? In Luke chapter one, in verse 26, in the sixth month,

Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was

Joseph, one of the descendants of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, greetings.

It's a Christmas greeting. Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you. She was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

And the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him

Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the son of the most high. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father

David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end.

How's that for a greeting? Focusing us upon the gospel.

Another greeting, this one comes from Elizabeth. In verse 39, now at this time, Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias, and greeted

Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb. John the Baptist, in his first sermon, at the pulpit in the womb, declares the identity of the

Messiah. The baby leaps in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the

Holy Spirit, and she cries out with a loud voice, and says, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the

Lord. How's that for a greeting? The Spirit is showing the significance of the greetings that surround the arrival of Jesus Christ, the advent of Christ, the incarnation of the

Son of God. And of course, the most famous greeting, I suppose, of all Christmas. Chapter two of Luke, verse eight.

In the same region, there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the

Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people.

For today in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the

Lord. You know, as I think about these greetings, we sense with the angels appearing from heaven, and the

Holy Spirit filling Elizabeth, and the angels appearing to both Joseph and to Mary, that God is intentionally intervening into our world.

And he comes with a greeting that brings hope and peace. Isn't this at the heart of Christmas?

I think Christmas cards are one of the most biblical things we can do. Not the only biblical thing to do, but one of the most biblical things we can do around the

Christmas holidays. Especially as I look at the text, and I see such an emphasis upon greeting one another.

God greeting us, and us greeting one another, and focusing one another upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is not a unique focus in the

Christmas story, but it is a prevalent focus in the gospel story throughout the scriptures.

Do you remember in the book of Genesis, how God kept greeting

Abram? Who is Abram? The book of Joshua tells us that Abram was an idolater from the land of Ur.

He is nothing special, except that God had been orchestrating and shepherding history into the fold of his glory, and Abram is the ancestor of the

Messiah. And God comes to Abram in chapter 12 of Genesis, makes wonderful promises to Abram.

It says, get up, leave your family, go to a land that I will show you. I will make you a blessing.

Those who bless you will be blessed. Those who curse you will be cursed. In chapter 17, he comes and he changes

Abram's name to Abraham, and reconstitutes the promise again, saying you are going to have a son, and his name will be

Isaac. This will all come about, but the greeting, and there's another greeting in chapter 18, where God himself comes to Abram's tent.

Comes past Abraham's tent with two angels, and Abraham runs to him, and greets him, and welcomes him.

And they spend time together, and the promises are given again, and God communes with Abraham. What about Genesis 15, verses 1 through 6?

Genesis 15, 1 through 6, and after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, do not fear,

Abram. I am a shield to you, and your reward shall be very great. God greets Abram.

He intervenes again into his life. Abram said, Lord, God, what will you give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is

Eliezer of Damascus? He had not yet had his son Isaac. Verse 3, and Abram said, since you have given no offspring to me, one born of my house is my heir.

Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, this man shall not be your heir, but one who will come forth from your own body.

He shall be your heir. And he took him outside, and said, now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.

And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. Then he believed in the

Lord, and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. It's an amazing thing to find

God coming to the patriarchs, coming to the prophets, encountering them directly by vision, by voice, in physical appearance.

And we're told that no man may see the Lord and live.

No man shall see my face and live, Yahweh said to Moses. And yet Moses saw someone and lived.

One might say he lived more after he saw him than ever before. No one has seen

God at any time, but the only begotten God who was in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him. John 118.

So who is this that comes again and again to the patriarchs? Who is it who comes again and again to the prophets, and speaks a word, and reveals the will of God, and reveals who

God is to these men? It is Christ.

It is Christ who greets us from God with a message of hope and peace.

So what do we do at Christmas? But rejoice in that fact that Christ has come to reveal

God to us, to save us, to bring us to God. I find a very deep and rich harmony between Genesis and Christmas and these emphases that we've been talking about today and last two weeks.

As we think about the importance of greeting, we must think about what it is that is most important about Christmas, and that is

Christ. So how is it that we're going to speak to one another? How is it that we're going to greet one another?

How is it that we're going to, from the initial moment that we welcome people into our homes, or walk into someone's home this holiday, how will we immediately showcase what the

Spirit has made significant? Gospel greetings must be our forte this year.

Let's think about that just for a little bit. I know many people don't want to name the name of Christ to be prevalent, the season of Advent to be prevalent, so they offer empty words.

I think that in the efforts to move away from Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays, but even that's too specific to seasons greetings,

I still think that that term is being realized as inadequate. After all, it begs the question, which season?

Which season? I was doing a little bit of research on it, and I think, interestingly enough, to avoid the uncomfortable conclusions that come with seasons greetings, some have taken to saying, wintry wishes.

I suppose this means, may your days be overcast, cold, and wet. What else can that mean?

Wintry wishes. The effort is strong to avoid the religious, spiritual conclusions that come with this season.

What an opportunity. If someone says season greetings, says yes, there are many great greetings for this season.

Here's one of my favorite. Here's one of my favorite. There are gospel greetings given to us in the scriptures.

Gospel greetings we can use. You know, around Easter, Resurrection Day, we have a way of greeting one another, don't we?

Christ is risen, right? The season where we celebrate

Advent, the coming of God the Son, Christ in human flesh.

Do we have something to say to one another? I think of Gabriel's greeting to Mary, the

Lord is with you, pointing us to the reality of Emmanuel. I think of the angels greeting to the shepherds, good news of great joy.

I think of the gospel of John. Light has come, and our life is in him.

The light of the world has come, and the light of men is in him. These statements and responses, perhaps, are all superseded by the very simple message of John 1 .14,

something that maybe we could say to one another. The word became flesh, and he dwelt among us.

You want to try it? The word became flesh. What a greeting.

What a greeting to remind us of what we're doing with this season as we showcase what the

Spirit makes significant in the text. May our greetings, may our greetings be godly.

Greetings that are in Christ, greetings that are full of promise and full of hope.

I think it's important, even as we come to consider the body and the blood of Christ set before us.

You know, when we celebrate communion on the Sunday of Christmas or the

Sunday before Christmas, we're doing that to remind ourselves why he came.

Why was he born? What was the purpose? What was

God's ultimate plan for his son? It was born as one of us, born for us.

It was to die as one of us, to die for us.

And we're going to have a meal or several meals this season. We're going to have a meal perhaps when we leave here, a special meal this evening, perhaps a special meal tomorrow.

And we gather around a table to share a meal with one another. Let's remember the most significant meal that we share.

And the most significant meal that we share is one in which we confess by faith our satisfaction in Jesus Christ, that God the

Father is fully satisfied in the Son. God says, he's my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.

And when we partake of this meal, we're saying, yes, yes, he is your beloved Son. And with him, we too are well pleased.

We are satisfied in Christ. We trust in Christ, for he is our Savior. We trust in him to be who we should be before God.

And we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. We trust in Christ for our everlasting hope.

That's what we're going to do here in a moment on this Christmas Eve. And I pray that this meal would be prevalent in our thoughts at every meal yet to come.

Let me pray for us. We're going to sing a hymn, and then we're going to share this meal together. Father, I thank you so much for gathering us this morning on this

Christmas Eve. It's just a special time to turn our attention upon the worthiness of Christ.

And I pray that you would guide our thinking, inform our thinking on how we are to greet one another, and how we are to draw attention to your

Son. And I pray this morning as we sing these hymns and spend time together communing with you at this table, that you would be honored and glorified in all that we do.