2,000 years ago, God Almighty
stepped into human flesh and came into this world. That's just about the most amazing
fact revealed in scripture in all of history. In that one who
came in human flesh to redeem and save us, is all the fullness
of the Godhead body." What an astounding statement. God whom the heavens cannot contain,
God who is infinite, glorious, majestic, incomprehensible, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, whom no eye can see, whom no ear can
hear, that God whom no man has ever approached unto, that immortal,
invisible, all-wise God, came down here in a body just like
this, in all fullness of his divinity. When Jesus Christ came into this
world through the womb of the Virgin, He did not in any way
cease to be God or lay aside his Godhood as many imagine. But that child nursing at his
mother's breast, that child wrapped up in diapers just like any other
baby, was and is himself God Almighty in all the fullness
of his being. And he was and is God Almighty
throughout all the days of his time on this earth. And when
he died as our substitute, He was and is God Almighty, the
eternal God who can never die, took on himself fleshing blood,
that for us he might die to satisfy the justice of God as our substitute.
Now I want us this evening to read together Luke chapter two,
verses one through seven, and I want to talk to you as God
will enable me about this birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. J.C. Ryle very properly stated,
as he commented on the opening comments on this chapter, every
birth of a living child is a marvelous event. It brings into being an
immortal soul that will never die. Oh, what a wonder the birth
of a child is. But these verses do not describe
just the birth of a child. What we have before us is the
birth of the incarnate Son of God. I deliberately did not say
the birth of the Son of God. Jesus Christ is God the Eternal
Son without beginning and without end. He describes himself as
he that is, was, and forever shall be. He is God the Eternal
One. But in the fullness of time,
the Son of God ascended our nature, and as a man was born into this
And so we have here the birth of the incarnate Son of God,
our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer. Never since the
world began was there such a birth. This was the birth of him for
whom and by whom all things were made. This is he who is God manifest
in the flesh. What a profound statement Paul
makes. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word became flesh
and dwelt among us. That one whom we have seen with
our eyes and our hands have handled and our ears have heard, that
John describes so eloquently, is himself the Word of God. God manifest in the flesh. What we have before us in these
verses is the birth of him of whom all the law and all the
prophets from Genesis 1 to Malachi 4, that one of whom all the law
and all the prophets speak plainly. It is a remarkable thing. It
is a description of him who is himself both the son of God and
the son of man. The son of man, but the seed
of a woman. one who is in one person, prophet,
priest, and king. There was no other who was prophet,
priest, and king in all the Old Testament, but this one who comes
as our Savior is and must be prophet, priest, and king. This
one who is born is described in the Old Testament as a lamb
for a sacrifice, and yet he is the priest who offers sacrifice.
He is that one represented in the tabernacle and in the altar,
represented on the mercy seat and represented in the law. He
is a lamb slain, but he is a living sovereign. He is our substitute,
and yet he is our king. Now let's read what Luke says
about his birth, beginning in verse 1. And it came to pass. Anytime you read those words,
don't read them lightly. It came to pass because God brought
it to pass. It came to pass because God ordained
that it come to pass. It came to pass because this
is the purpose of him who rules all things. It came to pass in
those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first
made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and all went to be
taxed, every one into his own city. As I have pointed out to
you just in recent days, this is one passage that clearly stumps
the toe of those who pervert the scriptures and try to suggest
that because the words world and every and all are used to
refer to the death of Christ and the love of God, then God
certainly must love everybody. Christ must have died for everybody.
The Holy Spirit's trying to save everybody. The world here speaks
of a limited number, the world under Caesar's rule. All who
went to pay taxes, it speaks of a limited number, not every
single person in the world. And often in the scriptures,
particularly when these words are used with reference to the
person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ, the world for whom he
died, the all who are loved of God and called of God, are God's
elect scattered through all the world, a specific multitude of
people. Read on, verse four. And Joseph
also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into
Judea, under the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because
he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary,
his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that
while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should
be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn son. her
first son. Now, this passage is often referred
to, these passages dealing with Mary's virginity, and the papist
would have you to believe that Mary had no children, she was
a perpetual virgin through the days of her life. This one who
is born of her is her firstborn son, but she had other sons. The Lord Jesus Christ had other
brethren according to the flesh. This is her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes. and laid him in a manger, just
a cow's table, because there was no room for them in the inn. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, was born as a man at Bethlehem in order that he might
die as a man at Calvary to redeem and save his people from their
sin. Now this is plainly stated throughout the scriptures. Let
me show you just two passages. First in Matthew chapter 20.
Our Lord Jesus himself states this. Then I emphasize it because
multitudes everywhere vainly imagine that the Lord Jesus came
into this world for some other purpose. Multitudes imagined
that he came here to set up a kingdom in Israel and because the Jews
wouldn't let him sit on their little peanut throne, then he
kind of had a plan B and went to Calvary to die. The church
is really just a parenthesis. You know what a parenthesis is?
That's something you take it out of the sentence, it doesn't
change anything. And both of them said, in the plan of God,
the church is just a parenthesis. Take it out, it doesn't change
a thing. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not come here to be an earthly
king. He said, my kingdom is not of
this world. If it were, my disciples would fight and would establish
it. His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, and he came here to
enter into his kingdom and to sit upon his throne by way of
the cross. He came here specifically to
lay down his life for our sins. The Lord Jesus did not die as
a helpless victim of circumstances. He did not die because he couldn't
do any better. He died because that's why he
came into the world in human flesh. Look here, Matthew 20
and verse 28. Our Lord Jesus says the Son of
Man came not to be ministered unto. He didn't come here to
get folks to serve him, take care of him, pamper him, but
to minister. He came here to serve. to serve
the will and purpose and glory of God, to serve the souls of
men, and to give his life a ransom for many. The Lord Jesus came
on purpose there, to give his life by his own voluntary sacrifice,
a ransom price to the justice of God Almighty for many, the
many given him whom he came to save from eternity. Look in Galatians
chapter 4. Galatians, the fourth chapter,
and in verse four. When the fullness of time was
come, when the fullness of time was come at exactly the right
time. Oh, God teach us this. He's never
tardy and he's never early. God's time is always on time. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the
law. What for? To redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
There was no way whereby God's elect could be made to receive
the adoption, all the privileges of the sons of God, except Christ
assumed human flesh, come here in our flesh to die in our stead
as our substitute at Calvary. Now then, as we consider what's
written here about the birth of our Savior, let me call your
attention to four aspects of his birth. First, its purpose. Then it's time. Thirdly, it's
place. And finally, it's manner. First,
let's turn back to Matthew chapter 1. And let me talk to you for
a moment about the purpose of our Savior's birth. Luke doesn't
record the purpose of Christ's birth in our text, but the Holy
Spirit has recorded it for us throughout the word of God. And
it is recorded specifically here in Matthew chapter 1 and verse
21 in the message that the angel gave to Joseph, Mary's espoused
husband. And it would be pointless for
me to talk to you about the birth of Christ if I didn't tell you
who he is and why he came and what he did. To just talk about
the historic fact of Christ's Incarnation may sound pretty
and sweet and sentimental, so that at Christmas time, folks
sing about it and talk about it and have pictures and write
cards and have all kinds of a hoopla concerning it, but it's pointless.
Now, listen to me. It's pointless to talk about
the historic fact of Christ's birth if you don't declare who
He is, why He came, and what He did. And that's exactly what
the Scriptures tell us. Look here in Matthew 121. The
angel said to Joseph, She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins."
Now, there's several things that are obvious here. First, he who
is our Savior was before he came. He was before he came. He could not come did he not
already exist. So the statement here is a declaration
of our Lord's eternal deity. Jesus Christ is, as I've already
said, God the eternal Son. Secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, has a people in this world called his people,
and they were his people before he came to save them. God's elect
were chosen of him in covenant mercy before the foundation of
the world. If we are his, if ever we come
to be his experimentally in time, it is because God from eternity
chose us and gave us to his son as his people before the world
began. Now, let men holler and yelp
and give all the yip-yap they want to give about God's election.
God's people love it. They rejoice in God's electing
love. Were it not for God's electing
love, not one of us here tonight would rejoice in his grace. We
would never know anything of the experience of his grace.
Salvation and grace flows to sinners through God's election
and no other way. Read Ephesians chapter 1. The
Lord Jesus Christ did not come into this world to save everybody.
Now folks say, I don't like that. Take it up with God. I'm just
telling you what he says. I'm just telling you what he
said. He did not come to save everybody. If he did, one of
two things are so. Either all men shall be saved
regardless of what they experience, or Jesus Christ is a miserable
failure. Now, you can take whatever you
want to. I'm just telling you, he came here to save his people
from their sins. Now, did he do it or didn't he? Did he do it or didn't he? Let's
look in the book and see. Don't pay any attention to what
I say or anybody else. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter
10, verse 5. The apostle is here writing by
divine inspiration and telling us that it's impossible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. It is impossible for
divinely ordained sacrifices. Divinely ordained sacrifices.
divinely ordained sacrifices. It's impossible for all the sacrifices
offered upon Jewish altars in accordance with God's Word, by
God's decree, by God's ordinance, it's impossible for divinely
ordered sacrifices to remove one sin. Can't be done. Now that
just shuts out every other kind If the sacrifices God ordained
could not take away sin, but were only pictures of Him who
must and can take away sin, then all the other sacrifices men
make and brag about won't do squat. I mean, they won't accomplish
anything. All right, now look at verse
5. Wherefore, since there's no other way for God to save sinners,
no other way for men to approach to God, When he, the Lord Jesus,
cometh into the world, this passage we're talking about here in Luke
chapter 1, as he was born at Bethlehem, as he was coming into
the world, he says, sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. A body suitable for the substitute,
a body suitable as a sacrifice to God, a body without sin, a
body without corruption, a body of a man, but a body joined to
Godhood hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, the book of God's decrees,
Revelation chapter 5, the book of God's word, back in Psalm
chapter 40. He's quoting that right here.
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. Well, what's that? What's the
will of God? The whole religious world thinks
it's some kind of a marvelous, mysterious thing, you know, if
you can Humble yourself enough and grovel enough and pray enough,
maybe some way you can find out what God's will is. You don't
have to look far, just read the book. What's God's will? Lo,
I come to do thy will, O God. What's God's will in this world?
Above, when he said, Sacrifice and offering, he burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin. Thou wouldest not, neither hadst
pleasure therein, which were offered by the law. Then said
he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He takes away the first,
but he may establish the second, takes away the old covenant,
takes away the old law, takes away the old ceremonies, and
establishes now a new and living way, by the which will we are
sanctified, look at it now, look at it, through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ one time for every one of us. the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every
priest, verse 11, standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice, one sacrifice of infinite
merit, one sacrifice of infinite worth, one sacrifice for sins,
forever sat down on the right hand of God, sat down. No priest in Israel ever sat
down in the holy place. Wasn't any chair in there. No
place for him to sit down because his work was never done. He'd
go in and make the sacrifices and, boy, he's got to come back
next year. They're going to make a sacrifice in the temple, got
to come back in the morning, got to come back this evening,
got to come back on the day of atonement. No place to set ale.
But this priest, with his blood entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, and he set
ale, because his work was done. It was done. You know, from henceforth,
expecting, expecting, because God promised it'd be. expecting
to his enemies be made his footstool. Look at this now. What did he
come for? He came, Bobby, to save his people
from their sins. He came to save his people according
to the will of God. He came to make a sacrifice of
himself for our sins to save his people. Did he do it? Did
he do it? By one offering he hath, oh glory,
Perfected forever, them that are sanctified. What did he do? He perfected
before God forever every sinner for whom he died, sanctified
in the purpose of God, set apart by God's election from eternity.
All right, now, look back at Luke chapter 2. Don't turn quite
to Luke 2. Hold your hands there and turn
back to Genesis 49. Let me call your attention to the time of
our Savior's birth. Here is a marvelous display of
God's wisdom. We're specifically informed that
our Savior was born into this world in those days when Caesar
Augustus, the first Roman emperor, made a decree that all the world
be taxed. Now, this is very important in
the whole scheme of things. You see, the Lord God promised
to his servant Jacob, way back here in Genesis 49, that Israel
would not cease to be a civil state until Christ came to redeem
and save his people. Look at it here, Genesis 49,
verse 10. This is Jacob's promise, God's
promise through Jacob. The sector, the rule, the rule,
rule of government, rule of power, the sector, shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh
come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Now,
our text tells us, Lindsay, of a precise fulfillment of this
prophecy. The Jews at this time were under
the dominion of Rome. They had lost all legal civil
power as a nation and a state. Strangers ruled over them. They
didn't like it. They didn't like to acknowledge
it, but it was fact. Strangers taxed them, levied taxes from
them. You don't levy taxes from an
independent state unless you try to levy taxes. Let Americans
go down and try to levy taxes in Mexico. When you have a war
on your hands, a war they know they can't win because you don't
levy taxes against an independent state. The Jews had taxes levied
against them by the Romans. The nation of Israel was without
government, any government of its own, for the first time in
their history. No sooner did Augustus tax the
world than Messiah came. Just exactly as it's written
here in Genesis 49. It was the due time. It was the
fullness of time. Divine providence had now arranged
the best time possible for Christ to come into the world. You see,
when he had fully proved that the world by wisdom knew not
God, the Lord God stepped into the world to make himself known
in the person of his son. The religious ritualism of the
Jews had left the Jewish nation utterly void of the knowledge
of God, morally bankrupt, lost in religious superstition, while
they held the oracles of God himself. The philosophers, the
poets, the historians, the architects, the rulers of all the Gentile
world had left the human race in spiritual darkness, moral
corruption, and political violence that only grew worse as society
became more intellectually superior. Kind of reminds you today, doesn't
it? And yet, at this precise time,
for the first time since the Tower of Babel, all the civilized
world. Now, you talk about a stretch
of language, that's a stretch. All the civilized world, for
the first time since Genesis chapter 19, chapter 11, I'm sorry,
for the first time in all history, the whole civilized world was
under one ruler. One ruler. Well, why is that
so important? Because now, with all the world under rope, everyone
in the civilized world had free access to travel from one place
to another without any fear of apprehension, without any difficulties
at all. And so the roads were open for
the gospel to go into the four corners of the earth, exactly
as it did. By the time Christ came, God
had arranged the whole world in such a way as to make an easy
path for the gospel to run swiftly to the four corners of the earth.
Pastor, why do you emphasize this? Oh, let us ever find solace
for our souls in this fact. All the events of this world,
all history, all governments, all rulers are in the hands of
our great My times are in thy hands. Bless his name. He always knows
what's best, and he always does what's best. We ought never worry
and fret about the course and condition of this world, even
in such dark days as these. We act like we know better than
God what's best. We really do. We act like we
know better than God what ought to be taking place. What nonsense. What foolishness. Martin Luther
used to frequently say to his fretting, worrying friend, Philip
Melanchthon, Philip, stop trying to govern the world. And well,
it's time we stop trying. Time we stop trying. Well, what
do you do? We would be wise to leave this
world, in all its affairs, in the hands of our God, and walk
before him as loyal, submissive servants, bowing to his will. All right, now turn to Micah,
chapter 5. Micah, chapter 5. And let me show you the place
of our Savior's birth. He wasn't born in Nazareth of
Galilee, where Mary and Joseph resided. Instead, he was born
at Bethlehem. How come? Because the prophet
Micah, long, long before this event ever took place, said he
was going to be born at Bethlehem. Well, but Mary and Joseph don't
live at Bethlehem. That's not any problem. God rules. But Mary and Joseph had no reason
to go up to Bethlehem. That's no problem. God can arrange
a reason. But man is not in a fit condition
to travel. That's not a problem. God rules. Now, look what he says. Micah,
chapter 5, verse 2. Thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though
thou be little among thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
he come forth unto me, that is, to be ruler in Israel, whose
goings forth have been from old, from everlast. Once more, we
have a marvelous display of God's sovereign, absolute rule of all
things in providence for the accomplishment of his good pleasure,
the pleasure of his grace for his people. He who orders all
things in heaven, earth, and hell turns the hearts of kings
withersoever he will. Neither Augustus Norris Ceridius
had any idea what they were doing. They didn't have any idea why
they made the decree they made. They were just politicians, and
nobody pays any attention to what politicians say. Nobody. Now, be smart. Now, be smart.
Politicians are pragmatists. Politicians are self-serving.
They have to be to succeed as politicians. Now, please forgive
me if somebody hears it who's an exception. I beg your pardon.
I have yet to meet it. had yet to meet him. These fellows
just spoke of expediency, and they acted purely out of what
they thought was best for them. Like the king of Assyria described
in Isaiah chapter 10, they meant it not so, neither did their
hearts think so, but they were performing the work of the Lord
God. And I'm going to tell you something. All of them do. All
of them do. of the first Roman emperor, laid
the foundation for the kingdom of Christ the Messiah, before
whom the Roman Empire and all others must soon bow and crumble
by the hand of God. God graciously and wisely, you
see, rules and overrules all things, both the good and the
evil, for the accomplishment of his purpose. Adam's fall was a terrible thing,
it was his fault. But his fall was ordered of God
for the display of his grace. Lot's incestuous affair with
his daughters was a horrible crime for which Lot himself was
accountable. Lot had no one to blame but himself
and his weakness as a man. But God Almighty brought forth
his son out of that Moabitess woman who was the child of Lot's
incest, Ruth. Elimelech sinned against God
in going down to Moab in order to save his hide in a time of
difficulty, but God's purpose was secured, for there Moabitess,
the Moabitess Ruth, was brought to Bethlehem, Judah, to Boaz,
and at last made to be the great-grandmother of the Son of God. David's sin
with Bathsheba, a horrible crime, a horrible thing that displeased
the Lord. He has no one to blame but himself.
But God's purpose stands. Jesus Christ came into this world
through David's son Solomon, the result of that horrible relationship
between David and Bathsheba. God rules everything. Absolutely. Absolutely. Our Heavenly
Father's providential rule of the universe ought to quieten
our hearts while we sail through this troubled world. If we believe
God, we ought never be disturbed greatly by the affairs of this
world or the conduct of earthly rulers. We ought to regard all
things as the will of God and look upon every action of every
political ruler as the oracle of God. It mattered not whether
Shemai cussed David or praised David, God blessed him all the
same. And it doesn't matter what the
ungodly do. It doesn't matter how the ungodly
behave. It doesn't matter how the kings
of the world rebel against our God and his anointed. Our God
still rules and does all things well for us, his people. Praise his name. Amen. All right, let you come listen
to him.