The Gospel of Luke: The Beauty and Tragedy of the Incarnation

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:01

You may be asking yourself, Pastor, wasn't Christmas last month?

00:07

And you'd be correct, but here at our church, we allow the

00:13

Word of God to lead not just the preaching but also what we sing.

00:22

And today's text is Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 1, and so please turn there in your

00:27

Bibles to Luke chapter 2, starting in verse 1, and when you have that, please do stand for the reading of God's Word.

00:41

Hear ye this morning the word of the Lord. Luke chapter 2, verse 1. In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

00:50

This was the first generation when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, each to his own town.

00:57

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

01:04

Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his bethrothed, who was with child.

01:13

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

01:26

This is the Word of God. You may be seated. Let me pray.

01:31

Heavenly Father, I do come before you with a sense of fear and trembling as we discuss the beauty and the tragedy of the incarnation.

01:43

The beauty of your Son coming into the world, and the tragedy that accompanied such visitation.

01:51

We pray, Lord, that you'd help us, even now, to lay aside every thought and every sin that may so easily entangle us to be distracted from that good

02:00

Word. We pray, Lord, that you'd help us to receive this Word of gladness and with joy and with anticipation.

02:06

And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, here we are in the great story of the incarnation, the story of Christmas.

02:19

Now, several years ago, when I first preached through the Gospel of Luke, this was my

02:25

Christmas message. And so here we are a couple weeks removed from Christmas. But I like to think of it in this term, right?

02:32

So we as Christians, we're not limited to a calendar, certainly not the Gregorian calendar, which we follow, which is not a biblical calendar.

02:42

But I say this to encourage us. We as Christians don't remember the resurrection of our

02:48

Lord simply on Easter Sunday. We remember the Lord's resurrection every single time we come together.

02:55

Similarly, another event of great importance in redemptive history is the birth of the

03:01

Savior, Jesus Christ. This is not to be relegated to just one day out of the calendar, but in fact, should be something that, as the text requires, we look at often, even the great incarnation story of our

03:15

Savior, Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter 1, we see how all of the first chapter of Luke, all first 80 verses are building up towards this great anticipation of this

03:26

Messiah, of this Son who will be born. And how he would fulfill biblical prophecy.

03:31

And how his birth would change the trajectory of human history and indeed of the world.

03:38

And we see that it begins with, in verse 1, in those days the creed went out from Caesar Augustus.

03:45

Now, looming in the shadow of Luke's narrative is the shadow and the presence of the great empire of Rome.

03:55

One of the great powers to have existed on the face of this world, and whose shadow is looming over the horizon is that of the king, or in this case, the

04:05

Kaiser, the Caesar. And his power, his presence looms greatly over the narrative of the

04:12

Gospels. And we see in verse 1 that in those days, in the days in which Christ would be born,

04:19

Caesar Augustus commanded that there should be a registry, that there should be a census made.

04:26

And I want you to know that this is of great importance, and it actually gives us a historical background to the

04:33

Gospel narrative here in Luke's Gospel. Luke was a historian. Luke was someone who paid attention to detail.

04:39

And part of what he's doing, he's building a case here for the historicity of Jesus Christ.

04:47

He says in verse 2, this was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, so he's given us details.

04:53

Now, one thing that you should expect from a historical narrative is such details such as this.

05:00

If this was a fictitious narrative, you'd have something to the effect that we see in the films of George Lucas.

05:09

One time, a long time ago, in a land or galaxy far, far away. But no, that's not what we see here in the text of Scripture.

05:18

Instead, we see the specifics, who, when, where, why.

05:24

This is all a beautiful retelling of a historical narrative. It has all the hallmarks of a historical narrative here.

05:34

And we see that in verse 3, that an all went to be registered, each to his own town.

05:40

So what was required of that registration is also spoken of here in detail. But what's really of great importance here in relating to the

05:49

Christmas story or the incarnation story is that the Christmas story begins with a decree from Caesar.

05:56

I want you to write that in there in the first part of the notes if you're following along. The Christmas story begins with a decree from Caesar for a census of the entire

06:05

Roman world. The political implications here shows that there is a power that is in control over the land of Israel.

06:17

There's a king that's in charge, that's making decrees, that's making laws, that's making requirements.

06:27

And this is influencing the very way in which Christ, the Son of God, would enter into the world.

06:35

It has great implications. Why? Because Mary and Joseph were in Nazareth.

06:43

And they now had to, because as a result of this convergence of history through Caesar Augustus, they now had to go to their place of origin.

06:54

Their place of origin being Bethlehem. Now why is that important?

07:00

Why is that of great significance? Why I want you, if you can, please turn, keep your finger in Luke, but turn to the book of Micah, one of the 12 minor prophets, close to the end of the

07:11

Old Testament, Micah 5.

07:24

And let's look at what the text of Scripture says in verse 2 of Micah 5. But you,

07:31

O Bethlehem Ephrath, 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 of old, from ancient days.

07:50

Other translations translate the last part a little bit differently. This part that says from ancient days should truly be translated from everlasting, from time indefinite, showing that the

08:01

Messiah's origin isn't just from a long time ago. It isn't just beginning at Bethlehem, but is in fact from eternity past.

08:11

This messianic figure is an eternal person who is stepping into history, who will be born where?

08:18

In Bethlehem. From there shall come the mighty one, shall come the one who is the ruler of Israel, whose origin is from everlasting.

08:29

Which is why again in Luke chapter 2, we see again in verse 3, all went to be registered each to his own town, verse 4, and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, Judea being the province,

08:47

Judea, to the city of David, which is called

08:52

Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David. So Joseph was a descendant of King David.

09:02

We'll make the case later on in other texts of Scripture when we get to the part of the genealogies in the

09:08

Gospels that Mary too was of the lineage of David. So Christ has two rights to the household of David, one by natural birth through Mary, but also the legal right through the adopted father,

09:22

Joseph. And yet both had to go and return to the place where their family was from, which is indeed

09:30

Bethlehem, the place that Scripture points to be the birthplace, to be the origin of the

09:37

Messiah. Bethlehem plays an important role in Biblical prophecy.

09:44

And it was not by the will of political forces alone that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, but God's hand and His plan and His decree was in it.

09:56

If you're following along in the notes, write this in. It was not the will of political forces that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, but God's sovereign decree in the fullness of time.

10:09

You don't have to turn there, but in Galatians chapter 4, notice what the Apostle Paul writes concerning the incarnation of our blessed

10:15

Savior. He says in Galatians chapter 4, starting in verse 4, he says this,

10:23

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

10:42

God at the right time in human history, at the appointed time, in the fullness of time, sent forth

10:49

His Son, Jesus Christ. It wasn't only because of the will and decree of Caesar that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, but instead it was the true sovereign, the true decree of God, not simply the decree of a great leader or a great political power, but in fact it was the sovereign will and decree of God that made it so that God would bring

11:15

His Son forth into the world in the right place at the right time. It's God's hand.

11:21

It's His prophetic word. And God uses the nations. He uses kings, princes, and decrees of men in order to fulfill

11:30

His purposes in real time and space. God's sovereign will is in all of history.

11:40

And the beauty of the incarnation is the timing of Bible prophecy that God, when

11:47

He speaks and He foretells the future, you can bet that it will happen just as He said that it will.

11:55

Just this morning we were looking at some of the warnings of Scripture in my Sunday school about false prophets.

12:01

And what's interesting is that when you look at the false prophets of the world, they're often very vague, are they not?

12:07

Even some of the more impressive false prophets, maybe you've heard if you watched the

12:12

History Channel back in the 90s and 2000s, you heard a lot about a man by the name of Nostradamus.

12:20

And Nostradamus was kind of impressive because he made some interesting predictions that seemed to come true. He even predicted that it would be a guy, a

12:27

German of all things, who would be named Hister. And he would come in and he would take over, almost take over the world.

12:35

And Nostradamus gets a lot of praise for that because he predicted that. And Hister, of course, sounds a lot like Hitler.

12:40

But you know what's even more impressive? The prophet Isaiah said that there would be a king named

12:45

Cyrus. And guess who showed up? Cyrus. Not Cypress, not

12:51

Sycud, but Cyrus was the one who showed up just as the prophet Isaiah prophesied.

12:57

And the same is true when we look at the prophetic word concerning the Messiah. It isn't just that the prophets of old get certain things right or close to being right, but they hit the nail on the head every single time.

13:14

Every single time. The Bible has a prophetic track record unlike any book ever made or published.

13:24

God's word is true. And when we look at the incarnation, and when we look at the prophecies concerning Jesus and how they're fulfilled in the

13:30

New Testament, we can have certainty of the truthfulness of God's word. We can have assurance that God's word is true and faithful.

13:39

And just as God has spoken in the past, so he shall fulfill his word in the future. God's word never fails.

13:49

And in the incarnation, we see this beautiful truth, all the more realize that God bringing forth his son in the fullness of time, meaning that just at the right time, consider this for a moment.

14:00

Some figures put it, believe that there's anywhere from 50 to 80 billion people who have ever lived on the face of this world.

14:10

It's a lot of people. Did you know that over 90 % of those people who've ever been born have been born after the coming of Jesus Christ?

14:23

After the coming of Jesus. Showing that at the right time in human history,

14:29

God brought forth his son, Jesus Christ, in the fullness of time before this explosion in technology and human history and human progress and human beings being born into the world.

14:39

God brought forth his son so that there would be a propitiation of sins, there would be an offering for those who had received him by faith, and that the nations in the world will come to the knowledge of the

14:51

Lord as the waters cover the very sea. It is all to fulfill Bible prophecy.

14:57

Jesus came at the right moment, at the right time, at the right place, fulfilling biblical prophecy and demonstrating the grandeur and the power and the sovereignty of God as he works throughout human history.

15:13

God's timing is perfect. In the right time, in the fullness of time, God brought forth his son,

15:21

Jesus Christ. Now, where would he bring forth his son? Well, Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem.

15:29

Again, Micah 5, 2 teaches that God would bring forth the ruler of Israel from Bethlehem. Now, Bethlehem was a small town, and it was famous, and it was made well known as the city of David, but did you know that Bethlehem has also another meaning?

15:46

The Hebrew word for Bethlehem means house of bread. I want you to write that in the notes if you're following along.

15:52

Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem, which means the house of bread, and is indeed the city of David.

16:00

We see in verses 4 to 6, it says again, and Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

16:09

Bethlehem because he was of the house and the lineage of David, to be registered with Mary his bethrothed who was with child.

16:16

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

16:23

So he was to be born in the city of David, in the house of bread. Now how fitting, friends, that the

16:31

Messiah would be born in the house of bread. Why? Because Jesus Christ is himself the bread of life.

16:41

It is through his body. He is the heavenly manna that came down from heaven,

16:47

John 6 teaches. It is why we partake in the Lord's Supper and the bread represents his flesh.

16:55

He's the true bread, the true manna that came down from heaven. He was born in the house of bread because he is himself the bread of life.

17:05

And all those who would consume of him by faith, who would receive him through saving faith, repentance of their sins, would have a satisfactory bread that leaves you neither wanting nor hungry, but it fills the very need of the human soul.

17:26

This Jesus, this Messiah is indeed the bread of life that came down from heaven to fill our spiritual need of heaven.

17:37

Jesus Christ has demonstrated himself to be the bread, the manna of heaven time and time again.

17:45

When the crowds were hungry and the crowds were needing of physical nourishment, he, as Jehovah Jireh did in the wilderness in Sinai, when the people of God were hungry, the

18:00

Lord made it so that bread would come down from heaven to feed the masses. So too, when our

18:07

Lord was on the earth, when God became flesh in Jesus and the masses were hungry, he lifted bread towards heaven and he brings it down and he satisfied the desires of all the people there by giving them bread and fish.

18:25

He was demonstrating himself to be God incarnate, that just as God was able to provide in the wilderness, so then he would also provide there in the teachings on the

18:37

Sermon on the Mount and in other places where he feeds the multitudes of 3 ,000 to 4 ,000 to 5 ,000.

18:44

Jesus was demonstrating that he is indeed the true bread from heaven, not only because he was able to satisfy them with physical bread, but even more with the spiritual manna, the spiritual teaching, the spiritual bread that he provides, which we are being fed on even now.

19:01

The very words that fed his people in those days is the very bread by which we continue to feast on even today and now.

19:11

What a blessing and what great power there is in the preaching and proclamation of the

19:17

Word of God. We are partaking of the same spiritual food and drink as those who were recipients of the original words that came from the mouth of Jesus as we have it recorded here in Holy Scripture.

19:33

God's timing is perfect and God brought forth his Son in the house of bread in the city of David at the right time.

19:42

Now why then? Why do I preface this message by calling this the beauty and the tragedy?

19:52

What's so tragic about this and what's so beautiful about this? Well the beauty of the story of Christmas, the beauty of the story of the incarnation is this,

20:05

God has come into the world. God has come into the world.

20:11

I want you to turn to John chapter 1. Of the synoptic, of the four gospels that we have, you have

20:22

Matthew, Mark, and Luke which are called the synoptic gospels because they parallel each other very closely.

20:27

These are very parallel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus and then you have John's gospel and John's gospel is a little bit different.

20:34

And it doesn't begin and end in the same manner and way as the other gospels.

20:40

All the other gospels look at it from a very historical, analytical perspective and John, he starts his gospel with the true origins of the

20:49

Messiah of Christ. Not starting in Bethlehem but starting in the eternity past and this is what we see in John chapter 1 verse 1, in the beginning, hearkening back to Genesis 1 .1,

20:59

in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth but in this case, in the beginning was the Word, the

21:04

Logos, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

21:11

Demonstrating that this Word, the Logos, in the Greek, meaning that the

21:20

Word, the Logos, was with God, proston, face to face with God. And he was also kai theos, meaning

21:29

God was the Word. Jesus, the Word of God, is

21:36

God. He, personal pronoun, was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.

21:48

In him, in the Messiah, in the Word was life and the life was the light of men.

21:54

And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it. And so you see the origins of the

22:00

Messiah hearkening back to Micah chapter 5 verse 2 showing that indeed the Messiah's origin is from eternity past.

22:07

He was the one that was in the beginning who was with God, who is God, and that with him and that apart from him nothing has been created.

22:15

He is the creator. He is himself not just one who has an origin but he is the originator of all things.

22:22

And then it says in verse 6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. So you see the inclusion of the hallmarks of the other

22:33

Gospels. The other Gospels start with John and they bring us to the person and work of Jesus Christ.

22:41

But here John starts even further back by saying no, the Messiah's origin is from eternity.

22:46

He is God and there was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him.

22:57

But he was not the light but came to bear witness about the light. Verse 9, the true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

23:09

And he, Christ the Messiah, the word was in the world. And get this, and the world was made through him.

23:18

He made it. He created the earth. He made the heavens and the earth.

23:24

He made all the people that reside in all the things that live on the face of the planet. He made and yet, what's the result?

23:33

It says, yet the world did not know him. What tragedy, what tragedy, what beauty on one hand that God, the creator would step into his own creation, unfathomable.

23:51

You cannot even begin to comprehend the implication of that. And yet, just as miraculous that that which he made did not know him.

24:04

And it becomes even more tragic. Verse 11, he came to his own but his own people did not receive him.

24:12

Not only does he step into creation and the creation that he made does not know him. But he goes to his own, that's his own people, the

24:20

Jewish people, the Israelites. And those who were expecting him did not receive him.

24:28

What tragedy. But verse 12, there's beauty. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

24:53

You see the great truths of God's word being demonstrated in his sovereignty, in his kindness, in predestination, in election.

25:02

That God predetermined before time that his son would enter into the world. It was by God's good pleasure and will that he determined that he would himself, through the personal work of Jesus Christ, would come into his own, though his own would not receive him.

25:17

That he would step into creation, the world that he made, yet the world would not know him. And that he would give the right to those who received him by faith to become children of God, who were not born out of blood, which is to say that this is not by natural means, nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man.

25:38

I'm sorry if you are an Arminian, but this does not teach Arminianism.

25:45

This, in fact, teaches the sovereignty and will and immutable character of God as he determines his people.

25:53

It is not by your choosing, but his choosing. It is not by your will, but by God's will.

26:01

It is all for the glory and praise of the incarnate one, the one who we read about in verse 14 of John 1, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

26:14

We have seen his glory, the glory of the only son from the father, full of grace and truth.

26:20

The word who was in the beginning, who was with God and who was

26:26

God, through whom all things were created, he became flesh.

26:32

Now, the Greek word here literally could be translated, and he tabernacled or pitched his tent among us.

26:39

That is to say that Jesus Christ truly came in true human flesh, not solely in the appearance of flesh, as was one of the early heresies of the

26:50

Christian church that taught against the true incarnation, the true humanity of Jesus Christ.

26:57

We affirm and believe the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ in his incarnation is truly man and truly

27:03

God, not 50 -50, not one or the other, but both truly coexisting in one person.

27:12

As the creeds teach us and as we see in Holy Scripture, Jesus truly is the

27:18

God -man, and that's the beauty of the incarnation, that God clothed himself in human flesh.

27:26

He veiled himself in human flesh so that the world he created, the world that he created could see him, though they did not truly see him for who he truly was.

27:38

This truth of who he was was only revealed to some, and those who did receive him, he gave the right to be children of God, so that the children of Adam, the sons of men, through faith in Jesus Christ can become children of God.

27:54

That's the beauty of the story of the incarnation, not only that God became man, not only that God took on flesh, but that it is in his taking on of flesh and his redemptive work in the outworking of salvation, that he turns us weak, feeble, fallen, depraved sons and daughters of Adam into glorious sons of the

28:19

Most High God. Amen? Isn't that good news? This is good news.

28:26

The beauty of Christmas, the beauty of the incarnation is God coming into the world to turn the sons of men into sons of God.

28:36

Please write that in the notes if you haven't already. The beauty of Christmas or of the incarnation is God coming into the world to turn the sons of men into the sons of God.

28:49

Also part of the beauty of the incarnation is, again, this prophetic expectation that God set forth in the

28:57

Old Testament, that through this one man that was promised, starting back in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15, that there would be one who would break the curse of Adam and break the curse of the serpent, who would crush the very head of the serpent.

29:13

This one would be a ruler. This one would make things right, would restore what was lost in Eden, and would establish an everlasting kingdom.

29:22

In fact, in Luke chapter 1, this is how we receive the word, or how

29:29

Mary received the prophetic word through Gabriel. In Luke chapter 1 verse 32 and 33, this is the expectation of the

29:37

Son, and it says, And behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name

29:43

Jesus, that name Jesus, Yeshua, Yehoshua in the

29:48

Hebrew, meaning Yahweh, Jehovah is our salvation. It says,

29:54

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father,

30:01

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

30:08

That's good news. This is the beauty of the incarnation, that God has set forth

30:15

His Son to be the King and ruler of the kingdom of God, the kingdom that you and I belong to.

30:23

Jesus Christ is indeed the true and proper head and King of God's kingdom, and we have this expectation that God is establishing the nation, establishing

30:34

His kingdom among the nations, and this is evident today. The Christian church over the last 2 ,000 years has withstood great persecution, even now in many places around the world, enduring great persecution, enduring the rise and fall of empires, the rise and fall of economic systems, the coming and going of pandemics and epidemics, the changing winds of life and culture, the ups and downs, the ebb and flows of history, and yet here the church of Jesus Christ remains and continues, and brothers and sisters, can

31:17

I tell you, it only gets better from here. It only gets better from here.

31:23

Don't confuse my optimism for post -millennialism, though. As one who has a different eschatological anticipation,

31:33

I can still say with great confidence that things will get better for the kingdom of God, even so as things get worse outside the walls of Jerusalem.

31:47

You see, God's people, the new Jerusalem, we ought to expect there to be great blessing as even though things get worse outside, it's the prosperity of God's people.

32:00

In fact, when you read the prophetic scriptures from Zechariah, for instance, it's one of the reasons why the nation shall turn against God's people is because they see the prosperity of God's people and they look to destroy it.

32:13

That would be opposed to the post -millennial view who thinks that everything outside the walls of Jerusalem, the

32:19

Jerusalem of God's people, would be great and dandy because of all the work we've been doing. No, you can expect both things to be true, the world to get worse, but the church to get better, amen?

32:29

So when you look at the outlook of the future, which kingdom, which camp do you want to be in, the one that will continue to degrade into more and more chaos and moral depravity or the one that has a sure and future hope whose kingdom shall not be shaken, even the kingdom of our

32:48

Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ? Surely, it's an easy choice. We ought to put our faith in Christ and the kingdom and the world to come, not in the world that is and what the world will become as it continues to progress more and more into a state of chaos.

33:04

And so how fitting that God would bring forth His Son to then not only to change the hearts of the sons of men so they become sons of God, but also that He's establishing

33:17

His kingdom reign through the people whom He has now made into sons and daughters.

33:24

You and I are members of the household of God. We are subjects and also co -rulers with Christ in this kingdom that was prophesied to the prophets, prophesied greatly in the book of Daniel, and prophesied even to Mary by the angel

33:42

Gabriel, that this Son Jesus, Yahweh saves, He would indeed establish and sit on David's throne and be the hope for the future.

33:52

You know, here in America, we have elections every two years. We just had one, and it shows that the political divide in this nation has never been greater, not in modern history at least.

34:06

And yet, when we look at God's kingdom, the certainty and the hope that lies within, we can have full assurance that regardless of the economic, social, and political woes of this world, we will continue even now to grow in grace and knowledge in Jesus Christ.

34:28

So our hope shouldn't be in Caesar, in the census, it shouldn't be in the political forces, but instead should be firmly set on Jesus Christ.

34:38

That's where our true hope is. It's not on who's in the White House, but who is in our house, because it's not from the

34:46

White House that salvation comes, but instead it is from the house of bread that salvation comes, from Bethlehem, from Mount Zion, that is where salvation comes.

34:56

It has come in the person and work of Jesus Christ. May your hope and faith be in Him and not in the things of this world.

35:04

I mean, just not to be political, but I just find it so funny how a couple weeks ago, just a couple months ago, one class of political folks were really happy because of one president, they found documents in his house and they're saying, oh, there we go, we've got him.

35:21

And just now another president, the one that's sitting in office, what did he find? They find documents in his house too.

35:28

And so what does that tell us? Our hope shouldn't be in one party or the other, it wouldn't be in one man or the other, it should be firmly in Jesus Christ, amen?

35:37

Because both are going to let you down, okay? Whether it's the donkey or the elephant, there's only one who will not let you down, that's the lamb, amen?

35:49

You're not going to find any hidden documents in his house. He's given us his word, he's given us his documents right here, it's the word of God.

35:57

You can also expect that to be a good analogy, why we should not accept other fictitious books such as the

36:03

Gospel of Thomas or the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. God has spoken to us clearly and plainly, folks. He's given us his word.

36:10

Jesus says, heaven and earth will pass from my words, will by no means pass away. We can trust in his sovereign decree and word as has been received to us here in the

36:19

Christian church. But as we continue on in this teaching and narrative, I want you to focus now on Luke chapter 2 for a moment, and look at verse 7 with me for a moment.

36:36

And she gave birth to her firstborn son, this is Mary, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger.

36:48

Why? Why a manger? Why swaddling cloths?

36:54

Because there was no place for them in the inn. Tragedy, what tragic circumstances.

37:03

Here you have Mary, first -time mother, a virgin with child.

37:09

And as they go to their hometown to partake in the census, they have this economic forces at work against them, but now they also have social and economic forces working against them.

37:23

They're likely not people of great means or great money. And as they enter into Bethlehem, the circumstances are such that as they go from inn to inn, house to house, they find no place for which they can lay their heads.

37:37

And even more tragic than that, you have in these circumstances, not only is this woman pregnant, very pregnant with her firstborn son, but this woman is about to give birth any moment.

37:53

And no one is helping them out. So it's not simply that they were looking for a place and she's very pregnant.

37:59

She's so pregnant, she's about to burst. Imagine that for a moment, if someone was in a similar circumstance today and someone is saying, my wife's about to give birth, my wife's about to give birth, please help us.

38:13

And what do they do? Sorry, we can't help you. Close the door. Next place. Please help me.

38:18

My wife's about to give birth. I need help. And what happens? Sorry, I can't help you. Close the door. It's tragic.

38:26

What does that speak of the people? Well, it makes clear what John says to be true, that he came to his own and his own did not receive him.

38:40

Didn't receive him. Not even under such extreme circumstances did they literally receive him as he's about to come into the world.

38:50

Instead, as men continue to do today, when the

38:55

Lord comes knocking, they close the door. They close the door. They did not receive him.

39:03

And because of those extreme circumstances, that is why he is to be found born in a manger, in a trough, placed in a trough, a manger being a place where the animals stay.

39:18

And place them in a feeding trough where animals would eat and their food and saliva would be all over the thing.

39:25

And yet, this is the bed that was made fit for a king.

39:32

Christ did not receive a grand entrance into the world, wasn't brought forth in the palace in Jerusalem, nor in the grand palaces of Rome.

39:45

But instead, his birth, his life was marked and began in such a state of humility that he was born among the animals, that he was brought forth and there was no place for him even in the inn.

40:04

Therefore, the tragedy, the tragedy of the incarnation story, the tragedy of the

40:11

Christmas story being this, that when the king, when

40:17

Shiloh came into the world he created, there was no room for him.

40:23

He was laid in a manger. I want you to turn to Genesis chapter 49 for a moment to just reference something of great importance.

40:37

Again, the narrative of the gospels bringing forth Christ into the world is a great fulfillment of Bible prophecy.

40:46

Going all the way back even to the book of Genesis, and Jacob as he blesses his sons says this regarding the future.

40:59

In verse 10 of Genesis 49, Jacob says to his sons, the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler staff from between his feet until tribute comes to him at Shiloh and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

41:20

Even Jacob sets forth this great anticipation that there would be one who would come whose name would be

41:26

Shiloh, the one to whom all peoples would give their obedience and tribute to. The ruler will come from Judah, from Judah.

41:37

Again, demonstrating the prophetic word being made sure here in the gospel of Luke. And the tragedy is that when

41:44

Shiloh comes into the world that he created, there'd be no room for him in the manger or no room for him in the world that he created, but he was laid instead in a manger.

41:57

Such tragedy, such tragedy. Yet, such beauty that God who created all things, all the riches, all the blessing, all the honor, all the power, all the dignity is his.

42:17

And yet, that when he entered into the world, he would come in such a way to be so humiliated and be so humbled that he would allow himself to be born in such a state, to be brought forth into the world in such a lowly way.

42:39

It shows the beauty of the humility of Christ.

42:45

It's his humility. It's in his humility that we see his glory, that he is able, though rich, to become poor on our behalf.

43:01

So as the apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians, we might become the riches of God in Christ.

43:08

That is the beauty and the tragedy of the incarnation, that God would step into the world that he made and though the world would not receive him, he would instead still give the right for those who believe in him, for those who receive them by faith to become sons of the most high

43:27

God. This is good news. The tragedy of the

43:34

Christmas, again, is that this newborn prince of peace will himself become sin by absorbing the curse of sin so that we might receive the righteousness of God through faith in him.

43:50

The Bible says this concerning Jesus in 2 Corinthians 5, though he knew not sin, he became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.

44:09

This is the beauty and tragedy of the incarnation, not only that he would step into the world, but that in his redemptive work, he would also take upon himself all of our sins.

44:23

All of our sins. I don't think we can understand that completely. I don't think we can understand the gravity of what these words actually mean.

44:34

Consider for a moment, God, Yahweh, all belongs to him.

44:42

All the gold, silver, all the riches, the wealth, the knowledge, the wisdom, everything belongs to him.

44:50

You put God, the true God, Yahweh, on one side, you put him on a scale.

44:57

You put Jesus on that scale. And you put everything else on the other side, the cosmos, all that is in it, every atom, every word, every ideal, every riches, everything that has ever been and ever will be.

45:14

And it still pales in comparison to who he is. There's no comparison.

45:21

And yet he steps into his own. He didn't have to. And yet he steps into the creation as depraved and as wretched and wicked as it had become.

45:36

And he lives the life that you and I could not live. He was holy, perfect, blameless, without sin.

45:42

Yet he became sin on our behalf. A substitutionary life and a substitutionary atonement was paid through the perfect obedience of Christ in his keeping of the commandments, but also in his satisfactory death that he died on a cross.

46:02

So that those who would put faith in him, repenting of their sin, would have the gift of eternal life.

46:11

Not a gift that is to be easily taken, nor can be robbed, nor stolen, but a gift that is assured for us in the heavens.

46:19

For as assuredly as Christ came and as assuredly as he has paid the penalty of our sins, so assuredly we can have this confidence that he who died paid my price and the price for my sins.

46:34

Therefore, I can sing hallelujah. I've been set free. Amen. I've been set free.

46:41

And the penalty of sin is no longer on my head, but instead I have a sure anchor and a rock for my soul.

46:48

The rock of ages, Jesus Christ, who has paid it all. This is the beauty of the good news.

46:58

The beauty and the tragedy of Christmas is the gospel. The good news for you, for me, and for the world that Christ came as prophecy said he would and every single prophetic word concerning the

47:18

Messiah's first coming has happened and has been joyfully and gratefully fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

47:25

So friends, what does that speak to about the future? We know this, that our

47:32

Lord, just as he came the first time, he promised that he would come again.

47:38

Amen. And if we have any doubt in our hearts, let us look to fulfilled prophecy in his first coming and seeing how the prophetic word was made sure.

47:49

And we have this sure hope and anchor for our souls that Jesus Christ came. He did the prophetic work.

47:54

He said it is finished. And yet he also promised this, that he shall come again.

48:01

In the meantime, he gave us another promise. He says, I do not leave you bereaved.

48:06

I do not leave you as orphans, but I will send to you the helper, the Holy Spirit, and he will lead you and teach you all things.

48:16

And God has now fulfilled that prophetic word beginning in Acts chapter two, when he sent forth his

48:23

Holy Spirit into the hearts of his people to anoint them, to equip them for the work of the ministry, to be a sure hope, a guide, a counselor, and the one who would lead us into all truth.

48:35

And we have the Holy Spirit living and dwelling in us if we have repented of our sins and trusted fully in Christ, the spirit being the good deposit of the things to come, the good deposit of the age to come.

48:47

And is because of the indwelling of the spirit that we become more like Christ and in that becoming more like Jesus, we get closer to the perfect image of Christ so that we have this great hope and anticipation for the future, that he is coming again.

49:04

And here is the blessed hope, the glorious manifestation of our great God and Savior, even

49:11

Jesus Christ. He is coming again. Amen? Even so come,

49:17

Lord Jesus. Let me pray. Precious Lord Jesus, we thank you that through thy first coming, through your incarnation, and the perfect obedience by which you won a people for God from all tribe, people, language, and tongue, you have delivered us into this new and beloved kingdom.

49:44

And we pray, God, that we would find ourselves this morning having great joy in anticipation for the things to come, for the future and the age to come, that we would be even now spurred and stirred onto obedience, the obedience of the peoples and the obedience of the nations that was prophesied back in Genesis chapter 49, verse 10, that you,

50:11

Lord Jesus, the child to come, you've indeed come and you've purchased obedience for all of us.

50:19

We pray, Lord, that you'd help us to obey that perfect and good word all the more. And I pray,

50:25

Lord, that those who have not yet received you by faith would even do so now and today that they would turn away from sin, repent, and trust in you fully, knowing that you and you alone offer the road that leads to eternal life.

50:41

For as the scripture says, broad and spacious is the road that leads to destruction and many are the ones who find it, but narrow is the gate which leads to eternal life and few are the ones who find it.

50:54

Lord, may we know this incredible truth, that it is only in you that that narrow door, that that narrow gate opens, for you are indeed the door to everlasting life.

51:06

We thank you for the beauty, the humility, and the tragedy of how it is that you came and purchased for us this salvation and may we never stop growing in appreciation for all that you have done, for you outweigh all things.

51:21

Nothing compares to you. Therefore, it is with great joy that we proclaim this good news, even until you return.