God in the Manger
December 2007
Why do you celebrate Christmas?
Do you observe Christmas because it affords a good “winter holiday?” Do
you enjoy Christmas because you like to spread “cheer” and “good will?”
Whatever those things are! Are you hoping that Christmas will eventually
bring “peace on earth.” Christmas cards and TV specials seem to suggest
that if we could all commit to spread good will and benevolence 365 days
a year instead of just one, we could actually bring peace on earth.
Maybe you just enjoy the “Christmas spirit,” that nebulous attitude of
generosity, giving, happiness, that mushy feeling of goodness and well
wishing toward others. We are conditioned to believe that Christmas
brings out the best in people and puts on display that quality of human
goodness that makes you think, at least for a couple weeks, that humans
are not all that bad after all. I am sure that you realize already that
those are all shallow and inadequate reasons for celebration, especially
when we consider what we actually have to celebrate on Christmas.
Most of the holidays that we
observe are holidays celebrating humans, human events or human
achievements: President’s Day, Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day,
Columbus Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Valentine’s
Day, Martin Luther King Day, Secretaries Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and the
list goes on. Christmas is different. Christmas is the observance and
celebration of a divine event, a divine achievement, and a
divine person.
Read once again this very familiar passage of
Scripture from Matthew’s gospel. Matthew 1:18-25, “18 Now the birth
of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed
to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by
the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and
not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But
when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to
him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take
Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the
Holy Spirit. 21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place
to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold,
the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call
His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” 24 And Joseph
awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and
took Mary as his wife, 25 but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to
a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”
This is Matthews account of how the angel appeared to
Joseph when it was discovered that his virgin wife, who had been
betrothed to him, was with child. Matthew says that Joseph was a
righteous man and did not want to disgrace her. As Joseph was
considering breaking off his betrothal, the angel appeared to him in a
dream and gave him a message. In the words of that angel, God reveals to
us two things: the identity of the Christ child and the intention of the
Christ child.
His Identity
Who or what was this baby? Who was this baby that his birth
would be proceeded by three different angelic visits, one to John the
Baptist’s parents, one to Mary and one to Joseph? Who is this baby whose
birth is celebrated all over the world? Who is this baby whose birth
split history into BC and AD? Who is this baby whose life, ministry and
person have been the subject of more writing, more singing, more poems,
art and literature, more worship, discussion and controversy than any
other person that has ever lived?
To answer these questions, consider what the angels
reveals about His origin. Jesus was born of a virgin. Matthew tells
us in verse 18 that Mary was found to be with child “before they came
together.” Although betrothed to his wife (engaged in our
modern terminology), Joseph and Mary had never been intimate with each
other. He was a righteous man and was not involved intimately with Mary
prior to their marriage. Further, verse 25 repeats the same truth again.
Joseph took Mary to himself as his wife, but kept her a virgin
until she gave birth to a Son.
Mary had never known any man. It was not just Joseph that she
had not know, but no man at all. What was conceived in her womb was
conceived by the Holy Spirit. Notice that twice Matthew tells us that.
She was found “to be with child by the Holy Spirit,” (v. 18) and
the Child which was “conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” (v.
20)
Matthew understood this to be a fulfillment of Isaiah’s
prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a
sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will
call His name Immanuel."
In Luke 1 the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary. When
she wondered aloud how she could be pregnant since she had never known a
man, Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power
of the most high will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child
shall be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
Granted, we can’t understand
that. We can’t fathom how it is that a virgin can conceive a child. We
accept it by faith on the testimony of those who were there. When it
pleased God to send for His Son into the world, the Holy Spirit created
in the womb of Mary a baby, a fertilized egg. A virgin conceived. His
origin is divine. It was the creative power of the Holy Spirit, a
miraculous, supernatural birth.
Now, that was His origin in time, in our world. That was how,
as John puts it, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John
1:1, 14), but He existed before Matthew 1. In fact, He
existed before Genesis 1.
In John 17:5 Jesus prayed
to the Father saying, “Now, Father, glorify Me together with
Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Jesus was aware that He shared the divine glory with the Father before
the world was ever created. That is Jesus’ own testimony to His
existence with God as God before creation.
In Philippians 2 the
Apostle Paul says that Christ existed in the form of God as God and
although he was equal to God, He did not consider that divine equality
something to be held on to, but laid aside the glories of deity to come
in the form of a servant in the likeness of men (2:6-11).
Jesus is called God in Isaiah
9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah tells us that His name is “Mighty God” and “Eternal Father.”
Colossians 1 says that Christ is the Creator of all
things. John 1:1 takes us back prior to God saying “Let there be
light.” John says, “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with
God, the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” John goes
on to say that without Him nothing was made that was made. Before
anything ever was, the Word was God. Christ existed as God before
creation and from all of eternity. There was never a time that God did
not exist and there was never a time that He did not exist as Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. But in time, “The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us” (John 1:14)
Christ is the infinite, uncreated Creator, God the Son,
eternally existing, stepping into our world when He was conceived in the
womb of a young Jewish virgin.
Consider also His name.
There are two names given in the passage. The first is in verse 21,
“You shall call His name Jesus.” The name “Jesus” is the
equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua, or Jeshua. The name means “Jehovah
will save.”
“Jehovah will save” is the name given by the Angel to Joseph.
It would be unacceptable for Joseph to end up naming the Savior of all
mankind Mark, or Peter, David or even Joseph Jr. His name by divine
command would testify to His work. His name would signify His mission.
Jehovah will save.
Why should He be named “Jesus?” The angel answers that “He
will save His people from their sins.” That was the mission.
There is a second name that is
given to Him. It is in the quotation from Isaiah 7:14,
“Immanuel.” But they called His name Jesus, not Immanuel. So was the
prophecy not fulfilled? No, it was. That is why Matthew tells us what
Immanuel means. It means “God with us.” You see, Jesus fulfilled that
prophecy in the ultimate sense. He was God with us. He is Immanuel.
The name Jesus denotes His mission. The name Immanuel denotes His nature.
Jesus was not “a good teacher
with us.” He was not “great philosopher with us.” He was not “great
moral leader with us.” He was not a “great man with us.” He was, He is
God with us.
In John 14:8, Philip His
disciple said, “Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
Jesus wasn’t claiming to be the Father. Rather Jesus was saying, “All
that can be seen of the Father, His nature, His character, His works,
are in Me.” There is nothing to be seen of the Father that is not
revealed in Christ. The Father is in Christ, Christ is in the Father.
They are two separate persons, but both equally God.
That is why Paul could say that
in Christ “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form”
(Colossians 2:9) In Christ dwells all that is God in human flesh.
Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ is the “radiance of His glory and
the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the
word of His power.”
His identity is seen in His origin and in His name. He is the
Son of God, God the Son. He is infinite, eternal, glorious God in human
flesh. He is God made flesh, God and man, the God-man.
This is the consistent teaching
of Scripture and it is a mystery beyond human comprehension. What would
that have been like on the evening of that birth? To be in that manger,
to be that mother who after carrying the Christ Child in your womb for 9
months reaches down and touches the skin of the infinite God? What was
it like to be Joseph and to hold this small baby that is the Creator of
all the universe. The very one who upholds your life and your breath by
His will, you hold in your hands.
His Intention
This is given to us in the
phrase in verse 21, “He will save His people from their sin.”
The Jews were expecting their
Messiah to be a Savior, but in a different sense. The Jews were not
expecting a Savior Who would deliver them from sin, but One Who would
deliver them from Rome.
Being in bondage to Rome, they
expected a Messiah Who would lead the nation to throw off the shackles
of foreign oppression, establish again that Davidic Kingdom, and sit on
David’s throne.
The prophets predicted a and a
descendant of David who would sit on David’s throne and rule in a
kingdom of peace and prosperity. That is in fact a promise of the
passage in Isaiah 9:6, “For a child will be born to us, a son
will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And
His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father,
Prince of Peace. It is unfortunate that our Christmas cards stop
right there! Listen to the next verse, Isaiah 9:7, “There will
be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne
of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with
justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will accomplish this.”
Scripture cannot be broken. That
will yet happen! It will happen at His second coming. But His first
coming was “to save His people from their sin.” The angel indicates to
Joseph that Jesus would be a savior, but it would not be in a political,
nationalistic sense. He was coming to save not from Rome, but from sin.
This is one reason that the Jews
rejected Christ. That is why Paul and Peter argued that the Christ had
to first suffer and die and rise again in order that He might no longer
be subject to death and decay. That had to happen before He would sit on
David’s throne. In that death, he would save His people from their sin.
The word “save” means to
deliver. It is used here in its fullest sense. The work of Christ, His
life, His death and His Resurrection does save His people from their sin
in the fullest sense. His people are saved from the bondage to sin.
Christ set us free from the power of sin in order that we might live to
righteousness. Christ takes away our guilt. We are set free from the
penalty of our sin. We will eventually be set free from the very
presence of sin. We are delivered completely, saved to the utmost from
our sin.
Who does Matthew say that Christ
saves? His people. Christ does not save from sin those that do not
belong to Him. The intention of Christ coming to earth was to give His
life for His people, to die in their place, as their substitute. The
angel said, “He will save His people from their sin.”
Ephesians 5 says that Christ died for his bride the church. In
John 10 Jesus said that he would give his life for His sheep.
John 6 Jesus said that the will of the Father was that He would save
and raise up to eternal glory all those that the Father had given to
Him. 1 Peter 2 says that Jesus Christ bore in His own body on the
cross, my sin.
He stood in the place of sinners, all those who would believe
on Him for eternal life. He offered His life in their stead, in my
stead. If you have trusted Christ as Savior, then you are His and He
gave His life in your place and bore your sin in His body on the Cross.
He came to die.
The intention of the giving of
the Son was announced before the Child was born, “He will save His
people from their sin.” He was born to die.
There is a lot of information
that we know in hindsight that was not revealed to Joseph at this time.
Joseph was not told that this child that he was being entrusted with
would eventually be rejected by His own people, abused, mocked, scourged
beyond recognition and hung to die on a Roman cross. Notice that Joseph
isn’t told that. To be honest with you, that would be a bit
overwhelming. Joseph is told what he needs to know, that is that this
Child would be the Savior for His people.
We know now what the Joseph did
not know then. We know what the plan of God was to accomplish this
salvation. We know that it was the predetermined plan of God to offer
His Son in the place of sinners. We know that before the world was ever
spoken into existence, Christ was slain. We know that the redemption
plan, the plan to create and then to redeem some of humanity was in the
Trinity from all eternity.
Christ would save His people
from their sins, not by being their political deliverer, not by
overthrowing Rome, but by giving His life, shedding His innocent blood
as a sacrifice by which the price of sin could be paid, by which He
might redeem those that the Father gave to Him.
How could this happen? How could
He save His people from their sins? This is where the identity of
the Christ and the intention of the Christ come together.
No normal, moral, man born of a
woman in the natural sense could save anyone from sin. No sinner could
give His life to pay the price for another sinner. No animal could do
that. The blood of bulls and goats could not atone for sin they could
only foreshadow the One Who would eventually give His life in the place
of sinners. It had to be a man, a human being Who would give His life
for other humans.
The sacrifice for sin had to
have no sin of His own. He had to be a perfect, blameless, righteous,
and holy man untouched by the fallen nature of Adam. He had to be a
descendant of Adam without sharing Adam’s corruption, guilt, and sin. He
had to have a human nature and be fully man without being
fallen Man. How did God accomplish that? The virgin birth.
He had to be man that he might
stand in the place of men. He had to be God that He might offer a
complete, perfect, infinite sacrifice that sin required. He was the
God-man. God who came in flesh to bear the penalty that He required for
sin. God is a just God who requires payment and justice for sin. He is a
loving God who came to pay the penalty that He requires.
His identity? He is God. His
intention? To save His people from their sin.
What About You?
Do you belong to Him by faith?
Have you owned Christ as Savior and Lord? If you do not have Christ as
your Savior, then you have no sin bearer. He came to save you from your
sin.
Our Christmas celebration must
revolve around Christ. It must give honor to the God who took the form
of a slave in the likeness of men to save His people from their sins.
Glory to God in the highest!
Without Wax-
Jim Osman
Pastor/Teacher
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