You'll turn back with me now
to Matthew chapter 1. We're going to be looking at
verses 18 through 23. It's not often that I bring a traditional,
seasonal message. And maybe, having heard this
one, you may think it's not seasonal either. I despise so-called religious
holidays. In Colossians 2.8, Paul said,
beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ. Our salvation is all together
in the Lord Jesus Christ. All wrapped up in Him. He has
fully accomplished the redemptive will of God and in so doing has
fulfilled every holy day and every feast day. and every ordinance
which was given to set forth his person and work. He fulfilled
those things. I haven't tossed the holy days
out, but I see those holy days fulfilled in him. He's my Sabbath. What do men
do on the Sabbath, the Sabbath day keepers? What do they profess? What do they pray? To rest. You can't do any work. You rest
on the Sabbath. I rest in Christ. He's my Sabbath.
I don't do anything. He's done it all. Jesus paid
it all. All to Him I owe. Our salvation is complete in
Him. And in verse 16 of Colossians
2, he goes on to say, let no man therefore judge you in meat,
or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon,
or of the Sabbath days. Now I want you to listen to this.
Colossians 2, 17. Which are a shadow of things
to come, but the body, That is, that which casts the shadow.
You go out here and you walk and you look down and there's
a shadow. That ain't the body, it's the shadow of the body. Which are a shadow of the things
to come, but the body, that which casts the shadow, is Christ. But sometimes these days, which
men hold in such high esteem, offer us the opportunity to talk
about things which we may not otherwise talk about. And so it is that I want to come
to you this morning and talk a little bit about the birth
of Christ. And all over the world, men and
women are celebrating in one form or another the birth of
Jesus. That's what's on the news, that's
what they're talking about, and they've mixed in with that Frosty
the Snowman and Santa Claus and who knows what else. But this
is what they're celebrating, this is what began this day,
is the birth of Jesus. That's what they're talking about.
A man-child was born by a Jewish maiden in a town called Bethlehem,
Judah. That was the area, Judah. That was the land given to Judah,
one of the 12 tribes of Israel. I heard on more than one occasion
over the past week or two about celebrating the birthday of Jesus.
Now, I suppose there's some truth in that. I don't want to throw
that out altogether. There's some truth in that. The
Scripture said, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them which are under the law. And our text, beginning in verse
18 of Matthew 1, says, now the birth The birth of Jesus Christ was
on this wise. He was born. He was born. We don't think about that much,
do we? He was born. He didn't just suddenly appear.
He didn't appear in the manger. He was put in the womb of a virgin
by the Holy Ghost. And that tiny seed put in the
womb by the Holy Ghost was made of the woman. And a man-child was born. The birth of Jesus Christ was
on this wise. And his birth is an undeniable
fact of the Holy Scripture. He grew from a seed to a male
child and was born as we were, through the womb of a woman.
Now I don't want to speak about this flippantly at all, as some
people do, calling his mother the mother of God. She's not
the mother of God. She's the mother of Jesus. Isaiah said, unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given. We say he's talking about the
same thing. Oh, no, he ain't. No, he ain't. A child was born of Mary, but
the Son of God was given. Is that right? He was given. So I want to ask this question. This is a very simple outline.
I've used it many times, but I want to ask this question based
on these scriptures that I've read to you. Who is this one
lying in the manger in Bethlehem? Who is this? Why is he so significant? Why does the whole world shut
down at Christmas time to celebrate his birth? What's going on? Who
is this baby lying in that manger? Who is he? Made of a woman, made under the
law. This child is as much man as
if he were not God and as much God as if he were not man. And
this child was born. He came forth from the womb.
He had to be fed at the breast of his mother. He had to be wrapped
to keep him warm. He had to be protected in God's
providence from his enemies. Herod tried to destroy him, killed
every male child in that whole area. But the providence of God
delivered him. But the son that was given is
the eternal Son of God, the second person of the triune Godhead.
He was not born, He was given. John tells us that. He tells
us in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And everything that was made
was made by Him, and not anything that was made was made without
Him. He's the Creator. He is the eternal
Son of God. He is the Word. And then he goes
on down in verse 14 of John chapter 1 and he said, And the Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The
glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Who is this Son of Mary? This
One called Jesus. He's God come into the flesh. God come into the flesh. He's
God and man in one glorious person. All right? That's who he is. Why did he come? What's the big
deal? There's been lots of male children
born. We don't shut the whole world
down. Nobody did when I was born. I had a few friends and family
every now and then celebrate my birthday until I got old enough
to manifest what I was and then they quit celebrating it. Who is this? What's so significant
about the birth of Jesus Christ? Now you would think with the
scope of this holiday and all the transpires in the weeks leading
up to it, that somebody might ask this question, why did he
come? But in all of the whatever you want to call it
that goes on, all the hoopera that goes on before Christmas,
nobody in my lifetime on television or radio or anything else ever
asked the question, why did he come? Why did the wise men or shepherds
or whatever you want to call them, why did they come and offer
gifts to him? Why did God lead them there with
a star? Who is this man child and why
did he come? What's so special about his birth? Why must the living God robe
himself in human flesh and suffer the indignity of being born of
a woman and being made a servant under the law? We say that's not indignity.
Well, that's what he says in Colossians chapter 2. He humbled
himself to be made. Isn't that what it says? We're
talking about the living God humbled himself. and become a
servant made in the likeness of men? Well, there are several answers
to this question. Let me give you just a few. First
of all, he came to fulfill the eternal sovereign will of God
to save a people given to him for the glory of God's name.
That's why he came, to fulfill the will of God. God has never
had or expressed any other reason than this one for the incarnation
of Christ. Did you know that? Never has. Now men have, they've interjected
all kinds of things. He came to be an example. He
came to be an inspiration. He came to do this and he came
to do that. He came to feed the multitudes.
He came to heal the sick. He came to do this and do that.
God never said any of those things. He never had or expressed any
other reason than this for the incarnation of Christ. Now, let
me show you this in just a few scriptures. First of all, in
John chapter 6 verse 38, you know this one well, I quote it
to you all the time. He said, For I came down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing. Why did he come? He come to do
his Father's will. That's why he came. That's why he came. We want to
try to butter that up and put icing on it and everything else.
What's wrong with it just the way it is? I come to do my father's
will. Well, what's that? What is the
father's will? That of all which he has given
me, I should lose nothing. I'm going to raise it up again
at the last day. In Hebrews chapter 10 verse 7,
they had all these sacrifices. He's talking about all these
Jewish sacrifices and ordinances and offering the lambs and the
he goats and all of these things. He said, then said I, lo, I come
in the volume of the book This book, in the volume of the book,
what book? The book of God's eternal decree
sealed with the seven seals that John saw Christ take from the
hand of the Father. Whichever book you want. He said
in the volume of the book, it's written of me. I come to do thy
will, O God. That's why I came. Here's this tiny babe lying there.
Why are men coming to worship Him? Why are they coming and
leaving gifts to Him? Why is the star of God hanging
over top of Him? Because He came to do what no
man could ever do, the will of God. That's why He came. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse
9, having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according
to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself, that in
the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together
one all things which are in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in him, in whom we have also obtained
an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Why did he come? They come to
fulfill the will of God. The will of God. If you want the details of that
redemptive will of God, you can read Ephesians 1 through 7. It will give it to you. It will
tell you. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem
according to the eternal sovereign will of God. God has saved us,
Paul said. He has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Why did he come? He came to fulfill
the sovereign and eternal will of God. Secondly, he came to
fulfill the word of God. The Word of God. All this happened
because the prophet said it was going to happen. Huh? God prophesied thousands of years
before he was born. He said, here's what's going
to happen. God is going to give you a sign. A virgin is going
to conceive and a child is going to be born. You're going to call
his name Emmanuel. He came to fulfill the Word of
God. God's been talking to men for
thousands of years about the birth of Christ. He gave His
first prophecy of Him way back yonder in Genesis chapter 3 and
verse 15, talking about the woman's seed that was going to crush
the head of the old serpent. He set forth in the genealogy
here in Matthew 1.1 as the son of David and the son of Abraham,
both of which were messianic prophecies. the coming of the Redeemer. And
Paul tells us in Galatians 3.16, Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but unto thy seed, which is Christ. And Zacharias, the
father of John the Baptist, he prophesied and said, Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel. He's visited us and redeemed
his people. Now wait a minute, he's just
a child. But they're redeemed. Why are they redeemed? Because
God sent His Son to redeem them. And He ain't going to fail. And
when He prophesied, He prophesied it as a work already accomplished,
even though this child actually hadn't been born yet. He raised
up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.
as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets which have been
since the world began. Why did he come? He came to fulfill
the word of God. He came to perform the mercy
promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the
oath which he swore to his father Abraham. And then thirdly, he
came to save his people from their sins. This is a savior lying in that
manger. On this day, this child is born
a Savior Christ the Lord. When Mary prophesied, she said
that she blessed God for her son, which was her Savior. Huh? Mary did. How? How can they look at this
tiny babe and find hope and salvation? Because we see him as God has
set him forth as a representative man. This is not just another
man. This is a representative man.
This is that man on whom hangs all the promises of God, all
the grace of God, all the mercy of God. It's all in him. He's the federal head and representative
of his elect. Adam, being the head of the human
race, plunged all mankind under sin. By one man, sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men. How'd that happen? Through Adam.
How can that be? He's a representative man. He's
the federal head of the whole race. And Jesus Christ, as the
head of his elect, has justified us, clothed us in a perfect righteousness,
and given to us eternal life. And so Paul writes, as in Adam,
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Well, don't that word all mean
all men? No, it means all that's represented in him. all for whom
He stands, that federal head and representative. Our Lord said this before He
went to the cross. His time was near. He was ready
to go to that dreaded cross. And our Lord said to His Father,
He said, glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you. As thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, to give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. He's gonna die for all men? No. For all he came to represent. Our Lord said to the Jews, I'm
the good shepherd. He said, I told you that. If
thou be the Christ, just tell us plainly, I'm the Christ. Hold
your hand up, say, I'm the Christ. He said, I told you. I told you. I'm the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. I told you, but you believe not
because you're not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. God sent his Son into this world
to do for his people what they could not do for themselves.
to pay what divine justice demanded as a ransom for our sin, and
to provide for them a perfect righteousness. A perfect righteousness. And when God presents you to
the Father in that righteousness of Christ, you're not only perfect
before Him, you're unreprovable in the presence of His glory. That's why He came. All right,
there's the baby. He's here. I hear you say who
he is and I hear you say why he came. What did he do? Did he do what he came to do? That's my question. What did
he do? If he didn't do what he came
to do, then why are we celebrating his birth? If he can't save his people from
his sins, Then why are we passing out presents and eating a big
meal and celebrating his birth? We celebrating the birth of a
failure? Somebody who wanted to but couldn't?
Think about it. What did he do? Did he do the
best he could do and then go back to the father? Did he pay
the down payment and then hand you the mortgage? Did he come to inspire us as
an example? Did he come to make salvation
possible? What did he do? The scripture
said he entered in once into the holy place by his own blood,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. He did what he came to
do. He suffered and hung on that
cross as a servant made under the law. He obeyed that law and
ever jot and tittle. My soul, he come down the path,
and the greatest man born of woman seen him. He said, behold,
the Lamb of God, who cometh to take away the sin of the world.
And he went over there, and Christ said, I come down to be baptized. And John said, I can't baptize
you. He said, I ain't even worthy
to unloose your shoelaces. Suffer it to be so for now, for
it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." Huh? What did
he do? He fulfilled all righteousness. He did what he came to do. He
obeyed that law in every jot and tittle. He loved the Father
like he loved his own soul. He loved the father when the
father was pouring out his wrath on him on the cross. Into thy
hands I commit my spirit. Lord, if it be possible, let
this cup, nevertheless, thy will be done. He loved his father. He obeyed that law in every jot
and tittle. And he died, and his death paid
the uttermost. It paid what God's justice demanded,
what God's righteous and holy justice demanded. It paid it
in full. And seeing all these things accomplished,
he said from the cross, it's finished. It's finished. Here's my soul. Committed his
soul to the Father. It's finished. Huh? Did he do what he came to do?
Bible said he did. Bible said he did. The Bible
tells me that the father first trusted Christ way back yonder
in the beginning. Made him the mediator king. Made
him the one mediator between God and men. Appointed him as
our savior and surety of his everlasting covenant. Everything
was hung on him. He said, I'll fashion him as
a nail in a sure place, and I'll hang upon him all the glory of
my father's house. And he did that. And he said, we're saved. This one who saved us, the father
first trusted in him. He said, in whom you also trusted
after you heard. After you heard. After you heard what? What he
did. Not what he tried to do, what
he did. He was delivered for our offenses. Did he satisfy? Well, he was raised for our justification,
I guess he did. Now, who was going to lay anything
to the charge of God's elect if Christ died? God who justified. Not only died, but yea, he's
risen. He's seated at the right hand of God. What did he do? He accomplished
redemption. That's what he did. In Mark 10.45 it says he come
to give his life a ransom for many. And I'm telling you this on the
authority of the Word of God, Jesus Christ did everything He
came to do. He didn't return to the Father
as a frustrated Savior, but as a glorious Redeemer and the Savior
of His people. Now where's He at? He did what
He did. Where's He at? The eternal Son of God came into
this world as a man, and as a representative man, He accomplished the redemption
which God promised to His people from the beginning. And having
fully accomplished the redemptive will of God, our Lord was carried
up on a cloud, disappeared into heaven. Where is He now? He's
seated, the Scripture said, at the right hand of God. Fully
accepted, fully received, fully loved. And you know what? The scripture said he raised
us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places. We're already received. My representative's seated at
the right hand of God. I've got no other information
about where he's at except for the word of God. If you reject
the word of God, you have nothing left but this theory and speculation
and conjecture and evil imagination. That's the only thing left. But
Peter said we have a more sure word of prophecy and we do well
to take heed to it. Scripture tells us that Jesus
of Nazareth rose from the dead and ascended into glory and is
seated at the right hand of God. Now this is significant for a
lot of reasons. First of all, because as our
federal head and representative, when he ascended up and was accepted
into glory, so were we. So were we. Secondly, because being seated
at the right hand of God, we have a high priest who ever liveth
to make intercession for us. If any man sin, any of God's
elect, any man for whom Christ died, any man called by the Spirit
to faith and repentance, if any of my people called by my name,
if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ,
the righteous. What does He do when we sin?
They say, oh, Father, You've got to make an exception for
him, because he's a sinner. We're going to save him, but
you've got to cut him a little slack. No. No. You're dead. See, that's the difference between
believer and unbeliever. A religious pretender believes
he's alive. Believers are dead. And their
life is hid with God in Christ. Is that right? And when he shall
appear, we'll appear with him. That's my life. That's my hope.
That's my salvation. What does he plead? He pleads
his own righteousness. That's not his righteousness. Here's his righteousness. What does he plead if any man
sins? What did the high priest plead
back under the Old Testament? He took the blood. Now what did
he do? He took the blood and before
God. He pleads his own blood. He pleads
his own righteousness. He pleads his own person, his
own affection. He pleads himself. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And He is the propitiation for
our sins, that is, that which enables God to be merciful. God
can forgive our sins and pardon our transgressions because Jesus
Christ Himself paid our sin debt and satisfied the righteousness
of God. He's the blood. He's the substitute. And Jesus Christ is our advocate
before God. He's able to save to the uttermost
all who come unto God by Him. And then thirdly, He's sitting
at the right hand of God. This is significant to us because
His seat there indicates a place of sovereign rule and power. This world represents this baby
that was born and lying in that manger. They represent him after
all that he did. They represent him as somebody
who can't do what he wants to do. He wants to save, but you
won't let him. He wants to have mercy, but you
won't have it. He wants to do this, and he can't
do it. He's frustrated. He's like this. He's looking down, and he's rubbing
his hands, and he's just crying. They won't do it, Father. Give
me a little bit more time. Come on. You know what the Bible says?
He's not standing looking over the balcony of heaven. He's sat
down at the right hand of God. You know what he's doing there?
He's expecting that his enemies be made his footstool. You know why he's expecting it?
Because he has power over all things. He never failed at anything he
set out to do and he's not going to fail now. He's arranging property. All
this happened, that happened. Think about it. Ain't nothing
happened that he hadn't arranged. And if he loved me enough to
die for me on that cross and raise me up and provide me with
a full redemption, Surely I can trust him with my little problems.
Huh? Can't I just say, here they are? Huh? Where is he now? He's seated at the right hand
of God. And while you're passing out them presents and you're
watching these shows, you think about what I told you here today. Who is this man? Why did he come? What did he do? And where is
he now? Now you can celebrate. Now you
can celebrate the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joseph, that
child, this didn't happen by a sinful act. That child in your
espoused is of the Holy Ghost. And when he's born, you're gonna
call his name Jesus, Joshua. That's what that is. Who took
Israel into the promised rest? Joshua. You're gonna call his
name Joshua, Jesus. For he shall save his people
from their sin. And he's not gonna lose one.
Everyone that the Father gave me, he said gonna come to me.
And him that cometh to me, I'm not gonna cast out. But I'm gonna
save them to the uttermost. And he ever lives to do that
very thing.