Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Galatians. Galatians, chapter 4. We'll continue our series on
the incarnation of Christ. This will be the last message
in the short four message series. And the message name is Christ's
Incarnation. Christ's Incarnation. Now the
last few weeks we've been Looking at the incarnation of the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the word of God, second person of the
Trinity. And we've been looking at how
he became a man, and how he died for the sins of his people, just
as the scripture proclaims. Just as the angel proclaimed
to Joseph when he said, and she shall bring forth a son, speaking
Mary of the Virgin, shall bring forth a son. And thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
Now let's turn here to Galatians chapter 4, and we'll read verses
1 to 7 here. Paul pens these words by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. Now I say that the heir, as long
as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be
Lord of all. So this is speaking of the lost
sheep of God who have not been regenerated. You cannot tell
the difference between one of God's elect or one of the unelect. You can't tell the difference
in the natural state. And we know that who have been
born again because we look back and go, my, look how I was. And I'm still a sinner, but now
I have love for the gospel, now I have love for the Lord's people,
now I have love for the Lord Jesus Christ, now I love the
scriptures. What a change, all wrought by God. Now we have true
joy and true peace in Christ Jesus our Lord, which we never
had before. And look at that, though he be
Lord of all, though he be an heir, you can't tell the difference
in natural state. We didn't know we were heirs,
did we? in our natural state. We had no clue we were God's
elect, did we? We had no clue at all. See, this is why the
preacher preaches the gospel to everyone. Because God knows
who they are. We don't. And we didn't in our
natural state. But as our tutors and governors,
until the time appointed of the Father. Look at that. God has
appointed a time when his lost sheep will hear the gospel. When
his lost sheep will hear the voice of the shepherd calling
them. And that shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ, we know that. One second we're an unbeliever,
the next second we're a believer. By the regenerating power of
God the Holy Spirit. But look at that, we know we
have an appointed time to die, but we also have an appointed
time when we hear the gospel. And who's the one who appointed
that time? The Father. Isn't that amazing? So let you think about that this
week too. God appointed the time when I'd hear the gospel. And
he gave me ears to hear and eyes to see Christ, to look to him.
Faith to believe, now it's my faith, isn't it? Yeah, it is,
but it's a gift from God. And he's the one who gave it
to me. What do you have that you didn't receive? We exercise
that faith, don't we? But it's God-given faith. Isn't
that wonderful? Oh, this is the wonderful thing
about the good news of the Lord. We just preach it as preachers
and the Lord just does with it whatever he's pleased to do with
it. It's wonderful. It's absolutely amazing. It says,
even so, when we were children, we're in bondage under the elements
of the world, so we were dead in trespasses and sins. But look
what it says here. Now this is talking about Christ's
incarnation now here. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law. When the fullness of time was come, at that exact
appointed second that God had appointed an eternity for Christ
to be born, he was born into the world. And we know he's born to come
to save us from our sins. 2,000 years ago. He accomplished
it, didn't he? He accomplished our salvation.
The scripture says he obtained eternal salvation for us. He's
sinless. He's spotless. He's the perfect
Lamb of God. And he obtained salvation for
us, how? We know from the studies in the
last month, and we know from having the gospel preached, it
came by the shedding of his precious, precious blood. We have peace
with God through the blood of Christ. We have reconciliation
with God through the blood of Christ. We have justification
before God with the blood of Christ. You take the blood away,
see that's why a bloodless gospel is nothing. There's a church
in town here, they never mention the blood of Christ. There's
no gospel there. And I even asked a preacher one
time, I said, how can you have a gospel without the blood? You
can't. There's no gospel, there's no
good news, is there? Because the good news is that Christ
died for our sins, and that his blood purchased our eternal souls.
That's the good news. Because look at verse five. Why
did he come? Well, he was made of a woman,
so he came into this world, he entered into this world. Why?
To redeem them that were under the law. That's us. He's perfect,
he's sinless. The law has no claim on him,
but the law sure has a claim on us, doesn't it? But he came
to redeem us. That means to purchase us, beloved.
To purchase us. out from under the law. Why?
That we might receive the adoption of sons. And look at this, I
love this. This verse, and I can't wait
till we get to it in our study in Galatians, but I've seen this
verse before, and there was times when I never did, but look at
this. And because you are sons, because we're sons, God sends
forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, I have a
father. When? At the appointed time. Verse
two. God sends the Holy Spirit at
the appointed time, and we're regenerated, and we believe. We believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at that. It's a work of
God. Salvation's of the Lord, beloved. And then what do we
cry? We cry something we never cried
before to God. Abba, Father. My, oh my. We shake our fist
at Him in our natural state. If not by our voice, by our actions
and by our sins. Now we mourn over our sin, right?
Knowing that our sins are against He who loves us, and we repent
of our sins. Even though we're forgiven, we
still confess our sins to the Lord, don't we? Yeah, and He's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness, John wrote in 1 John. My oh my, marvel at this. At
the appointed time, God sent his spirit to you and regenerated
you and gave you faith to believe. Isn't that amazing? That's absolutely incredible.
In these words, okay, let's do verse seven. Wherefore thou art
no more a servant but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. Look at that. You have all the
riches of Christ in Christ. Right now, that article in the
Bolton where Spurgeon says, nothing can change your relationship
with God in this world if you're a believer. Nothing. Nothing. My. And these words, the fullness
of time, are full of instruction for we who are the people of
God. Because the time of Christ's birth was fixed. Just as the
time of our salvation is fixed. We don't know when that is, but
the Lord knows. And the time of Christ's birth
was set by eternal predestination. He's a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, isn't he? God purposed and planned that
he would send his son to redeem us from our sins. Isn't that
wonderful? That's good news for sinners, isn't it? That's the
most wonderful news I've ever heard. God did that for me. Then he sent his spirit and regenerated
me. And now I have a love for God
I never had before. That's absolutely incredible.
That's absolutely amazing. It's all him. Who made you to
differ, and what do you have that you didn't receive? My,
oh my. Do you know that there's a time
set by God and his eternal purpose for all things that come to pass
in this world? You know, nothing that happens
in this world catches God by surprise. Absolutely nothing. As a matter of fact, all things
are working out according to his will and purpose. Everything. The dust you see in the sun falling
to the ground, all purposed by God. Isn't that amazing? That gives us peace, doesn't
it? And everything is accomplished exactly according to God's purpose,
precisely at His appointed time. Nothing ever happens before He
has appointed it to happen. That's our God. That's the one
who saved us. He's so in control, and He's the one who saved us.
No wonder the angels looked in wonder when Christ became a man. No wonder. My. So nothing comes to pass before
it's time, and nothing comes to pass after it's time as well.
Everything happens according to God's plan and purpose. And our great God, he's never
in a hurry. We can get in a hurry, can't
we? We can get in a hurry and want things done. He's never
in a hurry. Beloved, he's never in a hurry
at all. Nope. And he never comes too late,
just ask the believer. He never comes too late, does
he? Now we might be thinking, oh Lord, I need so much help.
And he tarries maybe for a little while, but he always comes to
us, doesn't he? And you know he's always with
us. I was mulling over that verse
with Vicki about be content with such as you have, and for he
has said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. Never. He'll never leave us. He'll never
forsake us. As we journey through this world
of woe, everything that happens to us happens to us according
to God's will and purpose. For what? For our good. And for
what? His glory. Even when we can't
see it. Even when there's clouds and
we think, Lord, how many times have we thought in our minds,
how can this be for my good? And it always is. You know what
I find? Always these things draw us closer
to Christ. As you said, sister, one time,
God's weaning us from this world. By trials and tribulations, he's
weaning us from this world. That's an awesome way to look
at it. Because that's what he's doing.
He's preparing us to be home in glory with him forever at
the appointed time. So our God, he's never in a hurry,
and he's always with us. And our great and glorious God
works all things according to his own timetable. Now, we make
plans, but if those plans are against the timetable of the
Lord, they'll never come to pass. How many times have we made plans
and they've never gone through? They weren't according to God's
will and purpose for us. My, oh, my. And there was agreed
time by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit when Jesus
Christ would come into this world. And that's called the fullness
of time in our text. When he would be born of a virgin
and when he would come here to save his people from their sins. And that happened not a second
late or a second early. It happened at the exact appointed
time. God appointed that time. A brief look at history will
actually reveal that for us. Think of this, God sovereignly
arranging all things for his son to come into this world.
The Jews had been carried away into Babylon captivity. Off they
went, into Babylon captivity. Then they were delivered by the
hand of God, weren't they? Just as he promised. And afterward,
they were never again given over to open idolatry. Ezra and his scribes compiled
the scriptures and taught them. And synagogues were established
all throughout Israel, and also in other places where the Jews
traveled. Synagogues were established. For what? For the teaching of
the scriptures. For the teaching of the scriptures. All throughout
the known world then, and all these things were being prepared for when the fullness of time
had come. All those things are happening
all according to God's timetable. And as I mentioned last week,
through the conquest of Alexander the Great, the Greek language
became the known language in the known world then. So everywhere
the Greeks went, the Greek language became the official language,
just like English is nowadays. And then when the Romans came,
they didn't do away with the Greek language. They conquered
more land militarily, but kept the Greek language as the standard.
All planned and purposed by God. Why didn't they just change it
to Latin? Because that's what they spoke. Nope. Greek language,
universal language. Why? Because the Bible was going
to be written in Greek, wasn't it? according to the will and
purpose of God. And all those synagogues being
established too, right? You see what the Lord did? Spread
like wildfire, beloved. And you know what else happened
too? The Romans were experts at making roads. So the word spread even faster. All according to God's will and
purpose. Everywhere the Roman legions went, they built roads
for fast and easy travel. And they also formed a strange
system of taxation. Turn, if you would, to Micah,
Chapter 5, and then put your finger in Luke, Chapter 2. Micah,
Chapter 5, and Luke, Chapter 2. The Romans formed a strange
system of taxation that required every man to return to his hometown
to pay taxes. Now, we just pay taxes out of
our checks, don't we? We don't have to go to where
we were born to pay taxes. But the Romans did this. Why? Well, because the heart of the king
is moved like water in the Lord's hands. And this is all being
prepared for Christ to be born in Bethlehem. See, someone might say, well,
what does these things have to do with preparing the world for
Christ's incarnation at the precise time it came in? And look at
these scriptures. We're going to compare. Look
at Micah 5, 2. But thou, Bethlehem, Ephraiah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judea, yet out of these shall he come,
this is speaking of this Messiah, forth unto me, that is to be
ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from
everlasting. So this is speaking of the Messiah.
He is to be born in Bethlehem. Now turn to Luke, chapter 2.
And remember, this form of taxation came in when the Romans took
over. The Greeks didn't do this. The Israelite nation didn't do
this. But now, under Roman rule, this was to be. Look in Luke, chapter 2, verses
1 to seven. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus. So Augustus
sent out this decree into all the known Roman land. Wherever
their empire touched, this went forth. That all the world should be
taxed. Now that's not all the world. That's not the Gauls. What that means is the Romans
thought they were The world. They looked at everyone else
outside the Roman Empire as just barbarians and heathens. So this
does not mean the whole world. This means the known world. That's
what this means. That all the world should be
taxed. And this taxing was first made by Cyrenus, who was governor
of Syria. And all went to be taxed, every
one into his own city. Okay, so here we are. This taxation
comes forth from Augustus, this decree. And Joseph went up from
Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, into the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
lineage of David. Well, the Messiah is supposed
to be born in Bethlehem. Do you see how God works all
things? We see it right here. Like I said, history is full
of examples of the Lord, just His hand working. Raising up
the Greeks, they go all the way to India. Raising up the Romans,
they go even further in Greek language. And then the
roads made, the synagogues in various countries and places.
Oh, my. It's ripe for the fullness of
time, isn't it? Oh, it's wonderful. It just gives you chills. It
just gives you chills. And look at this. And all went
to be taxed, every one to his own city. And Joseph also went
up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea in the
city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of
the house and lineage of David. This decree comes along. He has
to go to Bethlehem to be taxed with Mary as his spouse's wife,
being great with child. And so it was that while they
were there, all by God's decree, all by God's
will and purpose, when the fullness of time had come, the Messiah
is to be born in Bethlehem. And so it was there, while they
were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger because there's no room for them
in the inn. Look at that. the Incarnation, the Word of
God becomes flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, all according to
the will and purpose of God. And let's go back to Galatians
chapter 4, all according to the will and purpose of God, when
the fullness of time was come. God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem us, to purchase our
souls, beloved. To purchase our souls, purchase
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And now, again, we cry Abba, Father. It's wonderful.
And that's a miracle of grace right there, that we cry Abba,
Father. That's God showing favor to his
people in Christ, right? And only through Christ alone.
I don't deserve no favor from God. on my own, but God has blessed
me in Christ, and I'm going to tell everybody about Him that
I can. We're going to tell the great things, aren't we, as believers,
what God's done for us. When the Lord opens that door,
and I don't try to burst myself through a door anymore, You know,
I was talking to Jim a couple weeks ago about, he was bringing
about people, pigeonhole people. We don't do that as the Lord's
people. If the Lord opens the door, we just let him, then we're
gonna tell him about Christ, aren't we? We are, it's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Look
at this here. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, verse 4 of Galatians chapter 4, and then verse 5,
to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons. Now, the first point, again,
I'd like us to consider, we've already looked at it a little
bit, and I'd like us to look at it a little bit more, is that the incarnation
of Christ was at the right time, the time appointed of the Father. The right time. Spurgeon said this, the reservoir
of time had to be filled by the inflowing age after age. And
when it was full to the brim, at the appointed time of the
Father, the Son of God appeared. All those things had to happen.
And when the fullness of time was come, Christ came into this
world, beloved. Born a little child in Bethlehem. the ancient of days being held
by his mom, his human mom. And why the world should have
remained without him who is the great light for 4,000 years after
Adam was formed out of the dust, and why it should have taken
that length of time For the Jewish church to attain her full age,
we cannot tell. We do not know why. But at the
fullness of time, when God purposed it, Christ came into this world. And our Lord did not come before
his time or behind his time. He is very punctual, wasn't he? Remember, he came willingly,
beloved. He laid his crown aside willingly. to die for you and
I as believers. And we preachers just say to
die for sinners, right? Because we don't know who the
Lord's people are. Are you a sinner? Is God showing
you you're a sinner? It's actually a wonderful thing
to be shown by God that you're a sinner. People say, well, they
get offended when you say they're a sinner. They get all bent out
of shape. You tell a believer they're a sinner, they'll say
amen. But I'm a safe sinner. Glory be to God. Oh my. And we don't pry into the reasons
why Christ came when he did. No. We think on it with reverence,
don't we? In awe that he even came to redeem
us. that he willingly came to redeem
us from our sins. We're in awe of that as believers.
It fills us with reverence for God. He did that for me? My. You know the birth of Christ
is the greatest event in the history of man, in the history
of this world. It really is the greatest event in the history
of this world. The sun in the heaven is beautiful
and glorious, isn't it? Nothing compared to our King.
We look out in space at night and see the stars and all this
with our eyes. And you look in a telescope,
you can see even more. We see some pictures on the internet
of these galaxies that are just spectacular and stunning. But
even when God created them, it wasn't as great as when Christ
became a man. The incarnation of Christ wasn't
as great as when he became a man to redeem his people from their
sins. the greatest event that this world has ever known. And why did it happen? Well,
the main reason is because it was predicted. And it happened
according to God's timing, didn't it? And his will and purpose
was predicted in the Old Testament prophecies. We looked at the
one in Micah. There's many more in Isaiah.
Many. Speaking of Christ's coming.
Shiloh would come in Genesis. Shiloh's going to come, the seed
of the woman. Satan's going to bruise his heel,
but he's going to crush the serpent. And he did, didn't he? He did when he obtained our salvation.
The great sacrifice for sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, is to
be offered up. Now think of that, too. Not only
was his life, When he came into this world, determined by God,
but the second he died was determined by God. And do you know that
he willingly gave his life up? The scripture says he gave up
the ghost. We die when it's our appointed
time. Christ was sinless, beloved. He willingly gave his life for
us. Now that causes our heart to
overflow with love for him, doesn't it? And again, be filled with
reverence and awe that he did that for me at the appointed
time of God, that he willingly left heaven and came to this
world to die for my sins. And he did it. My. The Lord of glory, the all powerful,
all Lord, appoints the date of every event. And all times are
in his hands, and there's nothing left to chance, beloved. Nothing. There are no loose threads in
the providence of God. None. None. No dropped stitches. The great clock of the universe
keeps perfect time, beloved. And every tick of that clock
happens according to the will and purpose of God with unerring punctuality. And it was expected that the
greatest of all events, the birth of Christ and the death of Christ,
should be most accurately and wisely timed. And so it was as
God willed it, right? When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth his Son at the exact time that he willed
and purposed to redeem us, to save us from our sins. Rejoice. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come. God in the
flesh to save sinners. My. Second point I'd like us to consider.
Turn if you would to Luke chapter 2. The second point I'd like
us to consider is that Christ's incarnation is eternal rest from
fear. It's an eternal rest from fear. The law has no claim on us. We
don't have to fear the law, we who are in Christ. The wrath
of God has been appeased in our place by Christ. We don't have
to fear the wrath of God anymore. In our natural state, we probably
all, I know I was terrified of death in my natural state. Now,
I don't know how the Lord's going to take me out, but I know he's
going to do it one day. But I don't fear it like I used
to. Death's just a doorway, right? into the presence of Christ for
the believer. But in my natural state, I was terrified of death. Now I have a hope. And that hope
is Christ. That hope is Christ. And look
what it says here in Luke chapter 2, verses 10 and 11. And the
angel said unto them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ
the Lord. That's my Savior. Is He yours? By the grace of
God, I can say, that's speaking of my Savior. You know what that
means? My rescuer. Is He your rescuer? He's my rescuer. He rescued me from the wrath
of God, rescued me from the law of God, rescued me from my own
sins. He's a great, glorious God. And
to think that He did that, He came to do that, according to
the will of God, again, just leaves you in awe, doesn't it?
So we see here the very reason why Christ was born, why He came
into this world, that He might deliver us from our sins. That's
why He came. to deliver us, to do that which
we could never do. We could never deliver ourselves
from our sins. And he came to deliver us from our sins. The
sinless one. God himself did this. Laid aside
his crown. Came into this world. And did
he come low, didn't he? He came low. Made himself a man. My, God has come. The infinite
Almighty has stooped from the highest heaven, from the highest
heaven, beloved, to this sin-cursed world to save His people from
their sins, to save sinners. Are you a sinner? I'm one, but
I'm a safe sinner. And many sinners who have gone
far away from God spend their life living righteously in various
evil ways, and they're afraid to come to God, because they
think that the Lord will not receive them. They think, surely
there's no mercy for a sinner like me. Listen to this, Christ has come
to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to seek and
to save sinners. Sinners. He says, all my sins
so great. He saved Paul and Paul was a
murderer of Christians. Oh, my sin's so great, you don't
know what I've done. He saved David, who was an adulterer, who had
a man murdered, and took the man's wife. He saved David. And every believer will say,
he saved me. Like John Newton said, John Newton,
slave trader. He said, if the Lord saved me,
he can save anyone he pleases. And he came to save, right, to
the uttermost, those who come to God through him. Don't let your sin keep you away
from Christ. Heaven's full of sinners saved
by the grace of God. Heaven's full of notorious sinners
saved by the grace of God. The churches on this earth, the
true churches on this earth are populated with sinners who are
saved by the grace of God. Notorious sinners. Paul said,
I'm chief. Every believer says, no, that's
me. No, don't let your sin keep you
away from Christ. Why? Because he's a savior. He
saves his people from their sins. He saves us from our sins. Isn't
that wonderful? His whole mission, his whole
reason for coming, his whole reason for being born in the
fullness of time was to save his people from their sins. God himself did this. Oh, my. And the incarnation of Christ
takes away the horrible dread which hangs over man like a black
cloud, because we can't save ourselves. And the angels proclaim,
behold Christ, who is the Savior. He's the Savior. There he is in his manhood as
a man, but he's anointed. But the angels also call him
Christ the Lord. So not only is he a man, but
all the fullness of the God dwells in him bodily. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
And this is why we as believers cast our every need upon him,
right? Because only God, holy God, can fulfill all our needs. And what's the greatest thing
we need to be delivered from? Our sin. He's a savior of sinners. Oh, it's wonderful. And tell
me again. Tell me again that God became
a man. Tell me again that God himself
has espoused our nature, that he became bone of our bones and
flesh of our flesh. Tell me again. Tell me again
that God did this. And tell me why. Let the bells
of my soul ring in happiness that Christ came to save me from
my sins. Let my heart rejoice this day
that Christ came to save me from my sins. And he did it willingly. And he did it at the fullness
of time. The time purposed by God. God sent an ambassador, didn't
he? And he's the Lord Jesus Christ, and he makes peace with God through
the shedding of his precious blood for sinners. And his blood is a ransom for
our souls. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's one chosen
out of the people, because he's bone of our bone and flesh of
our flesh, beloved. And do you know where we're kept?
Do you know where we as believers are kept? In the hand of the
Almighty One, in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. You think
if God can hold everything together, can he not hold us forever? Yes,
yes, glory be to God, he can. We are secure in Christ. We're
in the hands of the one who reigns in glory and still wears the
nail prints where the nails punctured his hands and still his feet
are punctured, show the nail prints in his feet. And those
will be constant reminders for us in glory, beloved, of the
price that was paid for our salvation. No wonder the saints cry in awe
unto Him who redeemed us with His blood. No wonder they cry
out in joy over what Christ has done for us. They can't be quiet. And we're going to join them
one day, beloved. all because of the grace of God. The third point I'd like us to
consider is Christ's incarnation is joyous and personal. To the
shepherds, the angels said, behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy, which shall be to all people. And truly, the angelic message
is still a source of joy for all who are given ears to hear
and eyes to look to Christ. It's wonderful. Unto you is born
a Savior, a Rescuer, So rejoice, then, you who are the redeemed
of the Lord. Rejoice that Christ came to seek and to save you.
Bring it home. It'll fill your heart with such
joy. When you're down, and when things
are going on in the world, and we think, oh my, just remember,
Christ came to save me. The one who governs all the universe,
and all things are happening according to his will and purpose,
came to save me, and he saved me. he accomplished my salvation
he obtained eternal salvation for me we as believers can say
that and also he accomplished that for a number that no man
can number and again we don't know who the elect are we have
no clue we have no clue at all but we just keep keep I'll just
keep preaching the gospel as long as y'all just keep listening
and we just keep sending out in the world and see what God
does with it one way well We probably won't see what God does
with this side of heaven, but that don't matter, does it? We
know he's using it for his glory and honor and praise. That's
what it's all about. It's about the furtherance of
the gospel, beloved. That's why we're here. It's wonderful. So rejoice, O sinners, everywhere.
The Restorer of the castaways, the Savior of the fallen, the
Savior of sinners is born, and his name is Christ Jesus the
Lord. Join in the joy, you saints,
for he is our preserver. He's the one who keeps us. He's
the preserver of the saved ones. He's delivered us also from numerous
perils. Think of the things that happened
in our lives. I believe he saved us from so many different things
in our lives that we don't even see. Why is everybody slowing down? Well, maybe there's an accident
up the road. If you had been going full time, you might have
plowed right into somebody. Everything happens according
to God's will and purpose. Everything. One might say, well, I'm poor.
Well, so were the shepherds. And every believer will tell
you, I'm poor in spirit, but I'm rich in Christ. I'm poor
in myself, in my flesh, but I'm rich in Christ. Scripture says
this, the poor have the gospel preached unto them. He shall
judge the poor of the people. children of the needy, and shall
break in pieces the oppressor." Now let us consider the incarnation
of Christ is the wonder of angels. Think of how surprised the angels
must have been when they were first informed that the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Prince of Life, the King of Glory, intended to
shroud himself in clay. and become a human being, and
to live and die upon this earth. Think of how surprised they would
have been by that. We don't know how the information
was communicated to them, we don't know, but obviously from
what they cried out, they knew why he was coming to this world. Because they cried out, a Savior's
born to you. And we may imagine that there
was wonderment in their minds. The king is going to go to Earth to take on human flesh? He's
going to lay aside his crown to redeem these sinful humans? These animated pieces of dust? Was it true? Was it true that
he whose crown was adorned with stars would lay that crown aside? Was it true? Was it true that he should cast
away the purple robe of universal sovereignty and become a man? Was it true? Dressed in the peasant's garment,
He who is the sovereign king over all? Could it be true that
he who was everlasting and immortal would one day be nailed to a
cross? How they must have been in wonder. My. And no wonder they desire
to look into the things which were so surprising and mysterious
to them. The king is going to become a
man? And remember, they know his sovereignty. Even the fallen angels knew who
he was, remember? They said, we know who thou art,
the Holy One of God. And they were trembling. How much more the elect angels? And when he descended from on
high, they followed him. For Jesus was seen of the angels,
seen in a very special sense. For they looked upon him in rapturous
amazement, wondering what it could mean when he who was rich
for our sakes became poor. What does that mean? And can you conceive the increasing
wonder of the heavenly host when the word of God's incarnation
was actually done? when the word became flesh and
dwelt among us. Could you imagine the awe that they felt? He laid aside his crown and become
a man just to save his people from their sins, to save the
ones that the Father had given him in eternity. And then when Christ was born,
he came to the earth and he began to sing, glory to God in the
highest. And on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. They know
who he was, even though we didn't. Wonder of wonders, the infinite
one has become an infant. He who upon the shoulders of
the universe hangs, hangs on his mother's breast. He who created all things by
the word of his power, he who bears up the pillars of this
earth, has now become so weak that he must be carried in the
arms of Mary. Wonder at this truth of his poverty. He became poor that we might
become rich. All spiritual blessings are in
Christ, beloved, all of them. And behold him in his poverty.
There he sleeps, the one who is the newborn king. Does he
have the best room in Caesar's palace? No. Nope. Does he have a cradle of gold
which princes would get? Nope. He's the king of kings. No cradle of gold. Nope. None at all. Does he have a pillow
of down just to lay his head comfortably upon, which a prince
would receive? No. No, he who was king in eternity,
he who was born king, and he who is king right now, was born
in a dilapidated stable, where the oxen stood. And he's
laid in the manger where they fed. And there the Savior lies, swallowed
in swallowing bands of the children of poverty. But he doesn't rest there long. His mother and Joseph eventually
take him to Egypt when he gets older. Why? Well, he must go
there and become a stranger in a strange land, just as was prophesied
by God. And when he came back and grew
up in Nazareth, Could you imagine the angels were in wonder, here
he's come back to Nazareth, and he's just a carpenter? The one who they bowed before? No wonder, again, why they seek
to look into these things. They'd be in awe. The fifth and
final point I'd like us to consider is Christ's incarnation is the
marvel of mortals. It's the marvel of mortals. Think
upon this. If the angels were so astonished
at Christ's birth, is it not surprising that man be filled
with holy wonder at the great mystery of the incarnation of
Christ? Are you not, as a believer, filled
with awe and wonder at the incarnation of Christ? If the angels were filled with
awe and wonder, it's no wonder we are as the redeemed of the
Lord, eh? Now, those who are not in Christ, they don't have
any care. They celebrate the time called
Christmas, but their thoughts of it are fleeting. But we think
of Christ's birth all the time, don't we, as believers? We think
of his death, and we think of his life all the time, as believers. We actually hear about it being
preached every Sunday, pretty much. And we rejoice, don't we? But think of this. I want us
to ponder this this week. That this is the greatest thing
that ever occurred upon this earth. The birth of Christ and the death
of Christ. Those two things are the greatest things that ever
occurred on this earth. It's a marvel of mortals that
God should have Condensated for his fallen creatures, that instead
of sweeping us away with the broom of his sovereignty into
everlasting destruction, he comes to save some. My, because he'd have been right
and just if he had swept us all away in universal sovereignty,
right, to our destruction. He'd be just to do that. But
no, in mercy. In mercy, he chose a number that
no man can number in Christ. And when Christ went to that
cross, he died for every one of them. There won't be one left behind
either. Not one. Remember Mary and Joseph left
the Lord behind, left Jesus behind in Jerusalem? There will be no
one left behind. The Lord will get every one of
his sheep. And so if you're one of the redeemed of the Lord,
you've been born again by the Holy Spirit, marvel in awe for the
rest of your lives. And we will, won't we? We will.
And then we'll marvel in glory, beloved. Then we'll marvel in
glory that we should be one of the redeemed, that we should
be purchased by the precious blood of Christ. Me? And then think that God forsook
his throne to redeem me. He left heaven, didn't he? He left heaven. Because the only
way for us to be saved is for him to redeem us. For God to
become a man. None of us can save ourselves,
but he can save a people of a numberless people. A number that we can
never number. How? By the shedding of his blood.
But he must be born into this world in order to die. So rejoice, beloved of God, here
in his love, that not that we love God, but that he loved us
and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. Rejoice, beloved
of God. Let the things we looked at and
considered this week, let them just mow around in your head
this week. Just think of that. God became a man to die for me. What mercy. Hallelujah. Praise his mighty name.