TLP 467: Your Family’s Ultimate Christmas Hero

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Jesus wasn't born to stay in the manger. He wasn't born to forever be immortalized in a nativity scene.

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He came for the most amazing purpose. Welcome to Truth.

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Love. Parents. Where we use God's Word to become intentional, premeditated parents.

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Here's your host, AM Brewster. In just four short days, it'll be Christmas, and that means that we'll be sharing our family

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Christmas Bible time. All growing up, my wife's family would start their Christmas Day festivities by reading

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Luke chapter two, and we've done the same in our house since we've been married. So a few years ago, we decided that it would be fun to share that tradition with as many as would like to join us.

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So every year on Christmas Day, we post links all over social media that will take you to our family Christmas Bible time where I read aloud the

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Christmas story. Now I wouldn't want to take anyone's fun away from them. By all means, you feel free to read the chapter together as a family yourself.

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Do your own family traditions. You can even download the Christmas Bible reading from The Celebration of God and use that.

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It has suggested readings for each of the 12 days of Christmas. You can access that Bible reading in our Christmas resources linked below.

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But if you'd like, on Christmas Day, I'd be honored to share that time with you and the ones you love. And though I hope to spend that time with you and your family, whether or not you join us, please know that I and Team TLP desperately love you and yours, and we pray

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God's blessing as you grow to love Him more. And now let's turn our attention to your family's ultimate

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Christmas hero. Today's episode is about the real hero of Christmas. Now this revelation isn't going to surprise any of you, but Lord willing, it will equip you to parent your children through the many mixed messages of the holidays.

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And in addition to today's episode, I invite you to once again join me tomorrow at 11 a .m.

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Eastern Standard Time to discuss practical ways to apply what we're learning today. I'll also be taking your other

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Christmas -themed family questions. They may be marriage -related or parenting or about how to deal with your in -laws.

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Either way, download the Wisdom app, make a profile, follow me at AMBrewster, and then

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I'd love to hear your questions or additions to the discussion tomorrow. Lastly, don't forget to check out TruthLoveParent .com.

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In the new year, the site has been changing over the past few months, and there are plenty more changes on the horizon.

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We want it to stay relevant and helpful for you. That's why you'll be able to find today's episode notes and transcripts and a ton of Christmas resources linked in the description of today's show.

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Now let's talk about the most awesome hero who ever lived. Though you'll probably spend many short times talking about Jesus this season,

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I'd like to give you something that will package up the whole story from beginning to end in one manageable devotional or challenge or family

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Bible time, call it whatever you want. So here we go. If you want to place your finger on the pulse of a culture, just watch a movie.

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It will tell you nearly everything you need to know about that nation. Take a moment to consider some of the favorite

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Christmas movies here in America. Of course, I say Christmas with my quote fingers wagging because it seems that most of our favorites actually have nothing to do with Christmas.

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My mom likes to call them winter movies, or maybe even holiday movies, but I think holiday and Christmas are too closely related.

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Anyway, we'll get to that more in a minute. But what are some of the popular films? Well, there's the many incarnations of A Christmas Carol, It's a

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Wonderful Life, One of the Three, How the Grinch Stole Christmases. How about Home Alone?

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One and Two? No, Home Alone Three totally does not count. Then there's A Christmas Story. I have no idea why anyone would want to watch that.

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White Christmas, Frosted the Snowman, and all of the Santa derivations. The Santa Clauses, Santa Claus the movie, all the claymation

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Santas and Rudolphs, both Miracles on 34th Street or Miracle on 34 Streets, not sure what the plural of that is,

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Polar Express, ALF, and the ever -classy Ernest Saves Christmas. But what do all of those stories have in common?

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Well, they all showcase at least one hero. Scrooge, George Bailey, the

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Grinch, Kevin McCallister, and Santa are just some of the Christmas heroes we celebrate this time of year. And let's be honest, those are the more noble of our culture's

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Christmas heroes. Trust me, there are far worse. Just think Bad Santa. But what of the true hero of Christmas?

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What does the creator of this world have to say on the subject? You see, we all like to focus on the baby in the manger, and that's an incredibly important part of the story.

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The events surrounding Jesus' birth tell us so much about Him, but they only tell us a small fraction of the story.

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Jesus wasn't born to stay in the manger. He wasn't born to be forever immortalized in the nativity scene.

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He came for the most amazing purpose, and it wasn't to give toys to kids once a year.

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It wasn't to help tiny Tim recover from his illness, and it wasn't to keep the wet bandits from robbing his family, and it wasn't even to keep the building alone open.

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So today, I'd like to tell you the entire story of Christmas from the very beginning to the very end. And lest you be concerned that this will take way too long, the whole story can be found in just six verses of the

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Bible. So let's walk briefly through Philippians 2, 6 through 11. So we can help our families focus on the one true hero of Christmas.

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And remember, this is to encourage you, but also to equip you to share this glorious truth with your family this year.

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It's too easy for the true hero of Christmas to get lost amongst all of our paltry replacements. Unfortunately, it's actually really hard to find just one truly magnificent movie about this particular hero, and so it's up to us to lead our children into the true knowledge of Christ.

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Join me, if you will, in Philippians 2. We're going to see four eternally glorious and abundantly magnificent acts in this

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Christmas narrative. And it all starts with, number one, the King. Philippians 2, 6 reads, "...though

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Jesus was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped."

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Now, we just don't have the time to unwrap the infinite depths of this one simple sentence, but this we must accept.

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Jesus Christ is God. He is the 100 % supernatural King of all creation.

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And as the creator of all things, He knows what's best for everything. If you invented the can opener, it's completely appropriate for you to decide whether or not it should be used to spread peanut butter.

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But this act takes a quick and depressing turn. Mankind decided they weren't going to follow the

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King's plan. We rebelled. That rebellion is called sin. Sin is anything and everything that doesn't line up with God's plan for us.

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And our sin has earned us the consequences of our choices. Romans 5, 12 tells us, "...sin

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came into the world through one man, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men, because all sinned."

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Romans 6, 23 proclaims, "...for the wages of sin is death." And since we have sinned against an eternal

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King, in order to pay for our rebellion, we owe an eternal debt. But here's where the story begins to shine.

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This sovereign King had another plan. Though our debt is an infinite one, and though He is perfectly just, meaning

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He will require that the debt be paid, this King didn't want for us to have to owe Him for all eternity, so He decided to become a slave.

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And so we move to act 2, the slave. Philippians 2, 7 says, "...he

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emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."

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Why did Jesus have to be born to a virgin? Why did the star, and the manger, and the shepherds, and the wise men have to happen?

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Well, as God, He could not pay a human's debt. Only a human could do that.

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God had to become a man so that He could justly pay our manly sin debt. Jesus was born so many years ago so that He could be the perfect substitute for all mankind.

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Just imagine that. If that's not the stuff of heroes, I have no idea what is. A King becoming a slave.

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And He did this so that He could pay, number 3, the price. Act 3 is all about how much it was going to cost the

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King to pay his people's debt. You see, becoming the slave wasn't good enough. That was just the beginning.

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Remember this, our greatest joy is to serve God, but the consequences of our sin is death, and that's the price that would have to be paid.

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Philippians 2, 8 tells us, "...and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

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So people think it's sad or depressing or disgusting that we try to mar the sweet and innocent nativity with the torture and death of the cross.

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This is why we must remember why He had to come in the first place. The King's creation, you and I and every man, woman, and child who has ever lived, rebelled against Him by sinning, and because of our sin, we've earned eternal death in a place called hell.

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But remember, the King loved us so much that He created a plan, and that plan involved Him becoming a servant so that He could pay our debt for us.

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Jesus submitted to death on the cross so that His creation could reign with Him forever.

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Hebrews 10 tells us, "...it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."

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And verse 10 says, "...we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

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And for this reason, the King is the most amazing, humble, giving, loving, powerful, merciful, wise, gracious hero to ever live.

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And this leads us to the fourth and final act of this infinite spectacle. Number four, the hero.

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Philippians 2, 9 -11 says, "...therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the Father." Should we adore and reverence the baby in the manger?

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Most definitely. But we should also realize that the manger was just one important step in the whole story.

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Before He was a baby in a manger, He was God. And when He became a baby in a manger,

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He was God, putting into motion the most amazing redemption story in the history of mankind. And when

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He perfectly paid our debt by dying on the cross, He was God, which made it possible for every human to be reconciled to their

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King. And now, as the greatest hero in the universe, He is still the God who loves you and desperately wants to have a relationship with you.

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And one day, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the Father. This, my friends, is the baby in the manger.

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This is Emmanuel. This is the Holy Child. He's all of that and so much more.

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And we need to unwrap this glorious mystery and divine present for our children in a way they can understand and believe.

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And though it may not typically be considered a Christmas passage, I think Philippians 2 is a wonderful place to start. Please share this episode with your friends and download our free episode notes from Taking Back the

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Family so you can easily share it with your kids. God wants your children to know the true hero of Christmas, and you're the lucky ones who get to share it with them.

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Also, be sure to join us on Christmas Day for our Family Christmas Bible Time. And I hope you'll join us next Tuesday as we once again open

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God's Word to discover how to parent our children for life and godliness. To that end, we'll be discussing how you and your family can make

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Christ -honoring resolutions for the new year. Truth. Love. Parents. is part of the

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Evermind Ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional, premeditated parent.

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Join us next time as we search God's Word for the truth your family needs today.