Text:
Matthew 1:18-23 By Pastor YAU December 25, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
1) All birthdays are special: If you have been invited to
many birthdays of your friends, you may feel boring about them. But think about
it: if it is your birthday, then it is not boring at all but very special.
Birthdays are not just dates in the calendar they are landmarks of lives for
the honorees. Life is marked by years and all of them deserve celebration.
2) But this one is very
special:
While we all treasure our birthdays and feel they are special, the birthday of
Jesus is million times more special than all the birthdays in human history
combined. The way he was conceived and born, the reason he was born for and the
effects of his birth all made his birth and life unique and very special that
all people of the world celebrates, including many atheist countries.
JESUS WAS BORN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
1) Jesus, Son of God: “The angel answered: The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most high will over shadow
you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) A
glimpse of all the founders of religions throughout human history, except in
mythical stories, they were all sons with human fathers. They were all children
of sinful men, inherited the sinful nature of man. Regardless of how great and
impressive their teachings might be, they couldn’t even save themselves from
their own sins, much less save anyone from the sins of their followers.
2) Jesus, son of Mary: “This is how the birth of
Jesus came about: His mother Mary was pledged to marry to Joseph but before
they came together she was found to be with a child through the Holy Spirit....
All these took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: The
virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son.” (Matt 1:18, 22) The
virgin birth of Jesus Christ is the crown jewel of the Christian faith. Jesus
was not a son of man, but a son of a woman without a man. The essence of Jesus
came from the Holy Spirit, not from the nature of man. This sets far apart
Christian faith from all other religions and/or religious faith. This separates
Jesus from all other founders of religion because he didn’t inherit the sinful
nature of man.
JESUS WAS BORN TO SAVE THE WORLD:
1) Jesus has a mission: “But after he had
considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said:
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because
what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son,
and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save the people from
their sins.” (Matt. 1:20-21) How many of us have that specific assignment of
mission before we were born? Jesus was not born to found a religion or to give
great teachings of religion, but to save (deliver or rescue) people of the
world from eternal loss.
2) Jesus completed the mission: “But now in Christ Jesus
who once were far away have been brought near though the blood of Christ. For
he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the
barrier, the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in his fresh the law with
its commandment and regu-lations. His purpose was to
create one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to
reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their
hostility.” (Ephesians 2:13-16) There is no need of explanation in the passage
how Jesus had accomplished what God intended him to do before he was even born.
No one in history, religion or civilization could or had done what Jesus was
born to do.
JESUS WAS BORN TO FULFILL A PROPHECY: (1:22)
1) A 600 plus years prophecy: “All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet: The virgin will be with a
child and will give birth to a son.” (1:22) This is a direct quote from Isaiah
7:14, over 600 years ago during the time of the captivity. While the Israelis
were in exile, desperate with no home, God sent his message though Isaiah that
eventually God will send them someone who will lead the Israelis out of
captivity, return to their homeland.
2) Fulfilling that old
prophecy:
Have you heard anyone in human history, political leaders? Religious founders?
Founding fathers of nations? Or anyone else who was born to fulfill a prophecy
older than 600 years? The birth of Jesus was the only one that fulfilled a
prophecy, a promise of God, to meet the needs of his people, to restore
connection with God, to path a way back to God. God did not just foretell on
the time, he also foretold the way the son will be born: born to a virgin, a
supernatural divine intervention of human nature.
JESUS WAS BORN TO BRING GOD TO MAN: (1:23)
1) God’s purpose in Jesus’
birth: “The
virgin will be with a child and will give birth to a son, and they will call
him Emmanuel, which means, “God with us.” (1:23) In the birth of Jesus, God
became man in human fresh to dwell among men. This is a supernatural act God
did to connect men with him. In all religions throughout history, men need to
try, do, devote and offer sacrifices to get close to their gods, hoping
someday, somehow they will be accepted by their gods. But in the birth of
Jesus, God came to dwell among man in human form to save men from their sins.
God didn’t just do a miracle, he did the miracle for a good purpose, to be with
man.
2) Jesus’ birth brought grace
and truth:
“The Word became fresh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth.” (John 1:14) The birth of Jesus brought grace to man so man may be saved
through his faith in Him. His birth also brought truth of God to man so man may
see who God is and how God works. John further explained the role of Jesus in
1:18: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only who is at the
Father’s side, has made him known.” No religious founder may bring the truth
and grace of God to man except our Lord Jesus Christ who came from the Father
to dwell with us.
CONCLUSION:
1) It is time to celebrate: No other day in human
history is better to celebrate the blessing of God than the Christmas day. This
is the day God sent His One and Only to dwell with us, to show us the truth and
grace of God and point to us the path of returning to God. This is the day we
need to express our heartfelt gratitude to God for His sacrifice of His own
Son. Instead of focusing on gifts, party and food, let us focus on the gift of
God in the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2) It is time to receive Jesus: If you haven’t received
Jesus as your Lord and Savior, today is the best day to do just that. To enjoy
Christmas without receiving Christ as your Savior, to give you eternal life is
too much a waste of the occasion. God plans this occasion for a long time for
you to receive His grace. Do not push it away by hardening your heart. Make
that commitment to become children of the living God today.