in the book of John chapter one.
John chapter one, and I'd like to read those two verses that
we read last week, and then continue on in our thoughts about the
word was made flesh. I don't know in how many books,
how many stories, or how many movies, there's a problem somewhere
in a town, or among a people, or on an island, and lo and behold,
mysteriously, Someone comes out of the desert, someone comes
on a boat, someone walks into town, and they take care of the
problem. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was not just going to walk out of the desert. He arrived in
a very, very special way. And this way was in the purpose
of Almighty God. God purposed it before the foundation
of the world exactly how things were going to take place in the
redemption of His people. And He would not leave it up
to chance, but it would be exactly on purpose. Christ was the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, the Lamb of the covenant
of grace, the Lamb long before He tabernacled among us. He was
the Lamb of God slain long before he tabernacled among us. The
Lord never tried to do anything. The Lord has always had a purpose
and accomplished it exactly. We may try to do something and
fail. The Lord never tried to do anything. He did everything on purpose.
And he accomplished exactly what he intended to accomplish in
that purpose. And he was driven to fulfill
that purpose. He always had a purpose and accomplished
it exactly. He has more than the Christmas
story. Now I love, I've grown to love
in the last 30 plus years, I've grown to love Christmas. The man who brought me the gospel
said, if you're not enjoying Christmas, you're missing out
on a wonderful family holiday. And that struck me. So I'm enjoying
a wonderful family holiday. But the story, the gospel is
more than just the Christmas story that a baby was born. He is God come in the flesh. as Brother Mike tried to grasp
some of that in the Bible class this morning. It's an ongoing
issue with every believer trying to grasp God coming in the flesh. That God would give up the glory
that he had with the Father before the world was and condescend
to come down to this place. It was just like it is now when
he came. We may not have had all of the
sophisticated communication services, but it was just like it is now. The hearts of the people that
he was around were dead in trespasses and sin. They had fallen in Adam. They had been born after the
common way of birth over all those centuries and days and
months and years. He came down among that group
of people with the purpose of redeeming, of purchasing all
that the father had given him before the foundation of the
world. He came down as God in the flesh. The Lord came as promised. He was made flesh. He always
intended to be the sacrifice and the only sacrifice accepted
by God. to lay down his life a ransom
for many to pay the price of their sins. So when we come to
this time of year and we make a few comments about Christ coming
and being born in Bethlehem as it's declared in the word, we
need to continue the story and that's the gospel. Continue that
story out, bring it to its full length and we find him crying
from the cross, it is finished. Redemption has been made. Well,
in John chapter 1, verse 1 and verse 14, we'd like to read those
two verses again. We find in that first chapter,
verse 1, that there truly was no beginning for the Word. He
has always been. He is the eternal Son of God. He is eternally the God, the
Son of God. It says, in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now
over in the book of 1 John it tells us, chapter 4, that if
we don't believe that God has come in the flesh or Christ has
come in the flesh, we do not belong to Him. And it's more
than just not believing that He came in the flesh. It is bound
up in the fact that it comes by revelation, by the new birth,
that God's people believe that He is God come in the flesh.
that is more than just a baby being born, and that he came
on purpose, and that he had a mission to accomplish, and that he wasn't
driven in his life by circumstances, but circumstances were laid out
in this world by the counsel of God before the world began,
and that when he came here, he came exactly to do what he said
he would do, and he accomplished it completely, and he's now sitting
at the right hand of the Father making intercession for his people.
So we read here, he came in the flesh. God, the word was God,
and in verse 14, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And John writes, and the other
disciples write, and many can say today, And we beheld his
glory. As you read the word of God,
God's people are going to behold the glory of God in Christ Jesus
as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Well, this morning, would you
join me over in the book of Luke? Well, stop by the book of Matthew
for just a moment. Matthew, back up to the book
of Matthew for just a moment in chapter 1 in verse 18. Matthew
chapter 1 verse 18 In this gospel We have these
words given to us as Joseph was engaged to be married To a lady
in Israel now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise and when
as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together,
she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Now turn with me, if you would,
over to the book of Luke, Luke chapter 2. There are many references in
the Bible about God coming in the flesh, about the Messiah
coming to redeem his people. We heard read this morning, or
mentioned, that this shall be a sign unto you. A virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and now shall call his name Emmanuel,
found in the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 9, for unto
us a child is born, and for unto us a son is given. And then it
gives his name, wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting
peace, and so forth. And that is not, shouldn't be
commas there, should be hyphens. That is his name. He is the glorious
son of God, known in all of these capacities. Here in the book
of Luke chapter 2, The whole chapter 2 verse 1 through 20
is so interesting and so delightful to read, but I'm just going to
stop by verse 6 for right now. Luke chapter 2 and verse 6, it
says, and so it was that while they were there, Now they're
there by appointment. It just happens to be that God
used a Roman emperor to help make the appointment. I don't
know. My wife, when she was this far
along with our children, would have not volunteered to walk
a lot of miles to go to a place on a vacation. And Mary, that was not her interest. She would have liked to stay
home. She's very close to giving birth. And I remember Nancy being
quite uncomfortable as she approached that time. It was hard to get
comfortable in bed. It was hard to get comfortable
standing. It was hard to get comfortable
in a chair. It was just hard to get comfortable. And here
we find Mary is required by the purpose of God to travel from
Nazareth to Bethlehem so that she and her husband might be
enrolled for future taxes. all the reasons that you are
moved from a comfortable place to Bethlehem. Now why was that
necessary? Because the scripture said that
the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. God was going to have
it his way as he always does now he knew that they were in
Nazareth and he purposed that they be taken down to Bethlehem
and While they are there to be enrolled by the Roman government
for future Taxation it says in verse 6 and so it was that while
they were there the days were accomplished that she should
be delivered Now, there is her nine months are over. That's
one side of it. The other side of it is the eternal
purpose of God has come to this point. God had purposed that
His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would
be born in Bethlehem at a specific date. Would you keep your finger
here and go over to the book of Daniel chapter 9 for just
a moment? Daniel chapter 9. We find some
words that were given to the prophet Daniel. While he is in
Babylonian captivity, the angel Gabriel appeared unto him some
500 years before he appeared unto Mary. While Daniel is in
captivity, the angel Gabriel comes to him and here in Daniel
chapter 9 shares with us the time frame in which the Lord
Jesus Christ would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem. Now a
preacher that wrote many, many years ago in England said this,
I shall not occupy your time by attempting to fix the beginning
and the end of the period intended by the 70 weeks, and the seven
weeks, and the three score and two weeks. I think we would be
well to follow his instructions. I'm not going to tell you what
all of that means, but I will. As he said, you will be better
nourished upon the Lord himself than upon times and seasons. Suffice it to believe that Jesus
Christ our Lord, the Messiah, came exactly as it was prophesied. and remained on earth as it was
foretold he should do. In the middle of the predestinated
week, he was cut off. All right, enough said. That's
all we're going to say. But notice here in the book of
Daniel chapter 9, verse 24, the scriptures share this. Seventy
weeks are determined upon thy people and upon the holy city
to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most
holy. In verse 25, know therefore and
understand from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem. That's what we find in the book
of Ezra. From the commandment to go forth and restore Jerusalem,
unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be this time. Now, we may
say, well, it sure seemed to be misunderstood by people just
like it is today. Well, we have to beg to differ
with that just a moment, for we find, in fact, that there
were people in the days of the Lord Jesus at his birth, around
the time of his birth, and after his birth that understood that
the prophecy had been made, and we're looking forward to that.
In fact, it tells us with regard to Simeon. Simeon was a man that
had been revealed that he would look for the redemption of Israel. He understood God had revealed
to him that during his lifetime he would be permitted to see
the Lord's Christ. Somehow he knew what Daniel chapter
9 meant and there is another person that we find Anna look
for the redemption of Israel in the book of Luke chapter 2
and verse 25 in the book of Luke chapter 2 and verse 36 Turn with
me to chapter 2 and verse 30 25 we find after the birth of
the Lord Jesus that there was a man in Jerusalem and Luke chapter
2 and verse 25, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon
and the same man was just and devout. We find those same words
used to describe Zacharias. He was just. So was his wife
Elizabeth. Just. What's that mean? Justified. They were not just in their own
merit, but they were justified in the merits of Christ. who
was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel
and the Holy Ghost was upon him. He had some understanding and
there were others too. In fact, the same chapter, verse
36. Chapter 2 and verse 36, the scripture says, and there was
one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phineo, the tribe of Asher.
She was great age and had lived with her husband seven years
from her virginity. And she was a widow of four score
and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served
God with fastings and prayer night and day. And she was coming
in that instant to give thanks likewise unto the Lord and speak
of him of all that she looked for, the redemption of Jerusalem. There were people that knew what
was going on. It had been revealed to them.
We have two references. And later, 30 years later, 31
or 32 years later, Jesus is at a well when a woman is there,
a Samaritan woman, and she tells Jesus, we know when Messiah has
come. There are some people. that have been looking for, the
Messiah coming, the anointed one of God, the purposed one,
the promised one, the seed of the woman. As it's recorded in
the book of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, the seed of the woman
will bruise the head of the seed of the serpent. Thus one Jesus
Christ would be able to take care of all the issues that fell
out as a result of Adam. eating that forbidden fruit and
disobeying Almighty God and here we have him. Others came along
the way to prophesy about him. The Old Testament is those prophets
were continuously sharing with us and all the statements that
they made, someone is coming to take care of the problem.
We're picturing the problem here. We have a sacrifice and it's
an animal sacrifice, but we're looking forward to him who would
come and take care of it on a permanent basis. once and for all time. We've come to the Gospels. Someone
is here. As we found, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. An impossibility, but the words
of the angel of the Lord Gabriel to Mary was, with God all things
shall be possible. Don't get in a stint over this. Just believe the words. Here
we find that those words of Daniel so long ago, the almighty God
appointed a time and set a time when he would come. And he also
appointed a time and set a time when he would go to the cross.
They made it several times. There were instances when there
were people that lived on this earth would have taken him and
slain him in various ways. And yet the scriptures say it
was not his time. But when it was time, He went
to the cross, being in charge of the entire scene. He was in
charge of Pilate. He was in charge of the priests.
He was in charge of the religionists. He was in charge of his disciples.
He was in charge of his very own wife. In fact, when he gave
up the ghost, he gave up the ghost. No man takes it from me,
but I lay it down on myself. And no man is going to bring
me into this world. I'll take care of that myself.
The Holy Spirit overshadowed that virgin and she had a holy
thing given unto her and we know him as Jesus of Nazareth, King
of the Jews. Daniel tells us there in chapter
9 that this one is going to accomplish at least four things in that
one verse. He's going to finish the transgression.
That's why he came. He is going to make an end of
sins. That's why he came. He's gonna
make reconciliation for iniquity. That's why he came. And to bring
in everlasting righteousness, that's why he came. The Lord
Jesus was born of a virgin for one reason, not to intermingle
humanity with God. Any boy born from a man and a
woman would automatically be disqualified. We need someone
that's qualified. And the only qualification could
be that God would be the father of this child. In the book of
Luke there again, Luke chapter 2 and verse 6, it tells us when
it was time. And so it was that while they
were there in Bethlehem at the appointed place, at the appointed
time that God gave to Daniel, By the appointed people that
God chose, there was accomplished. She should
be delivered. Now, drop down to verse 11, if
you would. The angel came to a group of
shepherds. And they're out there sheep herding.
And I can just see them around their campfire, just had supper. And things go different than
they've ever seen. Now I can imagine that all of
them had seen great displays in the heavens of those, we call
them falling stars, those meteorites, all those things happen. They'd
been out there, they'd seen all those things. But something's
gonna happen they'd never seen before. We're gonna have an angel
talk to them. And it tells us here in verse
12, and this shall be a sign unto you. The previous verse
says, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord. In verse 10, the angel said,
fear not. I know you're pretty upset, kind
of afraid of things going on right here, but fear not, for
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which
is Christ the Lord. That word Christ is the same
word we find in the Old Testament for a Messiah. It means anointed.
Think of it, before the world was ever created, in the council
halls of eternity, in the covenant of grace, the Son went to His
knees and God the Father and God the Holy Spirit laid their
hands on Him and ordained Him to be the Lamb which would take
away our sin. He was anointed. God the Father
anointed him. God the Son anointed him. God
the Holy Spirit anointed him for the purpose that was set
before him. No one ever had this kind of anointing. There were
those high priests during the times of the Old Testament. They
were anointed and kings were anointed by oil, olive oil. It even says it dripped down
through Aaron's beard. which is a picture of the complete
anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation of the
world. They anointed him, set him aside, put him out, and said,
this is, he is the only one that we will ever have respect for
when it comes to taking care of sin. All the rest are disqualified. So Antios is born this day in
the city of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord. Christ
put himself in the state and circumstances of the church. Think of that. Christ put himself
in the same state and the same circumstances that the church
was in since the fall, yet without sin. Turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 16. In Ezekiel
chapter 16 is a description of the church. Ezekiel chapter 16. Here is a
description of the church. Now God intended to walk by them,
but this is what the church looks like by nature. He intended to
walk by them and said, I'm going to give them life. But this is
what they look like, this is what we look like. Beginning
with verse four, it says, and as for thy nativity, in the day
thou was born, all of us are born. All of us
are born in the fashion the Lord Jesus Christ would be born. Yet
we have a gene among us that disqualifies us from taking care
of our own sin or anybody else's. We have that human gene. We have
that gene that's passed on to us from Adam. We have a fallen
gene. When we're born into this world,
we're half dead. We breathe in air, our heart
pumps, but we're dead in trespasses and sin. We have a problem. He said, in your nativity, the
day you were born, thou's navel was not cut. You weren't taken
care of properly. Neither was thou washed in water,
to supple thee was thou was not salted at all, nor swaddled at
all. You were taken care of as a proper
child. In the fall of Adam, we weren't
taken care of. There was nobody to take care
of us. In our birth, our parents may have wrapped us up in in
blankets and all that washed us naturally, but when it comes
to our spiritual position, we're just not taken care of because
there's nobody to take care of us. The high priest couldn't
clean us. The best king couldn't clean us. The best prophet couldn't
clean us. All of those When it came down
to it, if they were true prophets, true priests, and true kings,
they pointed everyone to Jesus Christ. He said, he's the only
one that can clean you. He's the only one that can give
you life. We can't do it. All that we do can only point
to him that can. Goes on to say, I pitied thee
to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee.
But that was cast out in an open field. The Lord Jesus Christ
put himself in the state and circumstances of the church,
which he came to redeem. It was proper he should represent
us here also as in all other points. For we, by reason of
sin, was cast out. He was cast out. Follow his life. Where was he born? He was born
in a manger. Why? There's no room for him in the
end. Now if he'd have been identified as the Herod's son, he'd have
been found in a place. If he'd have been identified
as someone important, they'd have found a place for him. Someone
would have been on the floor. And he'd have been put in bed
with his mother. But he was a nobody. His parents were nobodies. They
were from Nazareth, come down to be taxed, or enrolled for
taxation. And so there was no room for
them, no room for him. And he's laid in a manger. He's
outcast. And he's going to spend his entire
life like that. He had not where to lay his head. He didn't own a house. He didn't
own a bed. We find him off and going to
his friends. But he had no possession here, and yet he is the owner
of heaven and earth. to the loathing of thy person
in the day that thou wast born. That's the description God gives
of the church before Christ comes in his redemptive work in his
day of salvation. And when I passed by thee, I
saw thee polluted. We're not going to get away with
what we look like. We just can't dress ourselves
up enough not to be noticed for what we are. I saw thee polluted in thine
own blood. Boy, we have a problem. It's
an inherited blood problem. I said unto thee, when thou wast
in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live. Did you notice in this description
it says, we were not swaddled? We were not swaddled. We're not
covered. we're not taken care of. Did
you hear with me over here in the book of Luke? Here's a sign
for you to look for. When you find a baby laying in
a manger in swaddling clothes, Jesus Christ did not have the
problems that we have by nature because he came into this world
born of a virgin and did not have inherited sin. He is the
savior of his people. He was swaddled. It is an indication
to us as we read this passage of scripture in the book of Ezekiel
that we have a problem. He didn't. And if he didn't have
a problem, He can be the savior of his people. If God was in
favor with him all through eternity and in his birth and in his life,
even as Jesus brings out there restoring to me the glory that
I had with you before the world was, every step he took was by
the obedience of the son to the every command of the father.
There was not any issue between the father and the son. There
is issues. between the Father, Heavenly
Father, Almighty God, and humanity because of sin. Now, how are
we going to get this taken care of? There's only one. And His name is Jesus. You shall
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. He was swallowed. There was no
fault in him. He was perfect in his nature. He was perfect in his stature.
He's perfect in every examined way, and those that cannot be
examined, he was perfect there too. He was perfect in body,
mind, and spirit. He was perfect in holiness. He
was absolutely the divine son of God. And when he came, suffering
as he did for the sins of his people, he could completely take
care of the debt that was owed, though he owed no debt. He became
poor. It struck me yesterday as I was
thinking about that. He became poor. That's more than
just without money. He became poor. that we might
become rich. Where's our riches? In His righteousness. In His salvation. There is no
end to it. There's no completion of it.
There's no lifetime warranty on it. Covered all and throughout
eternity. He's not swaddled. No covering. He was swaddled. He was covered. He is the righteousness
of God for us. For unto you is born this day
in the city of David a Savior. He didn't come out of the desert. He wasn't that person who came
and delivered our city or our family or us from a problem,
just showed up one day. This one had been purposed from
eternity. You shall find This day in the
city of David, in Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ, the
Messiah, the Promised One, and beside that, He is the Lord. Oh, religion forgets that point.
Christianity declares it. He is the Lord. In the book of 1 John, would
you turn there with me in closing? 1 John chapter 4. 1 John chapter
4. This one, the promised Son of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, came at the appointed time in the
appointed fashion, promised to the Father from before the eternity
began. Here in the covenant of grace,
I have a Redeemer, I have a Lamb slain. Here in the book of John
chapter 4, John chapter 4 and there in verse 2, John chapter
4 and verse 2, hereby know you the Spirit of God. John chapter
4 verse 2, hereby know you the Spirit of God. Every spirit that
confesses that Jesus, the actual, true, honest, and complete Savior. He shall save His people from
their sins. Christ, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the promised one
from eternity, the one who the covenant of grace was made with
in all eternity, this covenant of grace to redeem a people,
is come in the flesh is of God. He has come, born of a virgin,
had no speck of sin about Him. He laid down His life, a ransom
for many. He bore our sin in His own body
on the tree. And then it goes on to say, every
spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
What's that mean? He didn't know what He was doing.
He doesn't know who He died for. He just went to the cross as
kind of secondary. People will teach, preachers
will teach he came to set up his earthly kingdom and people
didn't accept it so he had to go to the cross. What error! Anybody that holds that in their
heart just does not know Christ. He didn't plan to do that. He
never intended to set up an earthly kingdom. He came to be a savior. He came to be a ransom. He came to be a redeemer. He
came to lay down his life. He came for that purpose. He
was laid in a manger for that purpose. Goes on to say here
in 1 John chapter 4, and there in verse 3, for every spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh
is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist,
whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already
is in the world. Well, John was dealing with already
problems in the church when he wrote this. Towards the close
of the canon of the book, and there's people that are denying
that Jesus Christ is actually God. They're denying that he
actually came in the flesh. There's already a, and he said,
let's settle this once and for all. Everyone that God has ever
saved by the new birth will know in their heart That Jesus Christ
came exactly as it was directed in the word of God, that he came
born of a virgin, just like it said in the book of Isaiah. And
you don't have to translate that word a maiden, you can just leave
it alone, because that's how he had to come. And when he came,
he came just like he said he would, in the place he said he
would, at the time he said he would, with one purpose in mind,
to redeem his people from their sins. Hallelujah for Christ coming. God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And he dwelt here for 33 and
a half years. And when his dwelling time was
over and his work was accomplished, he went back to where he came
from waiting to wit. for every one of his lost sheep
to be saved and assembled in his presence for eternity.