Christmas Adam Service - Pastor Miles | Sunday, December 23, 2023

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered... So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2)

Why is this night different from all other nights? Because in obscurity, the most significant event in human history took place.

Why Is This Night Different?

Merry Christmas, and welcome. I love this time of year. It's a wonderful time to rejoice and sing praise to God, and to think on the words of older songs that hopefully are still familiar, even though we don't carol-sing as much in our culture as we once did.

In Jewish history there is a huge celebration every year called Passover, and it begins with a question asked by the youngest child in the room: Why is this night different from all other nights? In that celebration they remember their Exodus out of Egypt. As I thought about us gathering tonight to worship the Lord, I kept asking that same question about the night we celebrate at Christmas.

In so many ways, the night we celebrate seems like any other night—almost insignificant, not that big of a deal. And yet it is one of the most significant things that has happened in all of history. It happened in relative obscurity, in an obscure part of the world that no one would think much about if not for what occurred there.

An Event of Unknown Day, Immeasurable Significance

The challenge with this celebration is that we don't know the exact day it happened. You'll hear people make a big deal that Jesus wasn't really born on December 25th, and I don't know any Christian theologian who would argue that He was. We're simply celebrating it on that day. We don't know the exact year either, and we don't know the exact location in Bethlehem—there's no marker saying, "This is the place."

Many historians and theologians believe it happened in something like a cave. In the hills of Judea, people would often keep their animals in such caves. So when we picture a stable or a stall, it was probably a place just outside or within the city walls that would look to us like a cave.

We don't know the exact day, and we don't know the exact location, but we know that it happened. As a result, for the better part of the last fifteen hundred years, all of Western history centers on that event. We say it is the year 2023; sometimes people say "in the year of our Lord." We have built our entire calendar around what took place there.

Though it is a simple story, it is anything but insignificant. The most important event in all of human history took place in the city of Bethlehem, with Joseph and Mary.

They Looked Forward; We Look Back

The awesome thing is that for centuries before that birth, many people in Israel were looking forward to and anticipating what would happen. We look back to it; they looked forward to it. And the reason they looked forward to it is one of the most remarkable things about this book, the Bible.

The Bible is a book of books—sixty-six of them. The first thirty-nine, the Old Testament, contain prophetic promises looking forward to the coming of the One who would bring salvation to the world. What are we being saved from? The story begins in Genesis 3. Genesis 1 and 2 give us the creation account—how all things were made by God, and they were good. But in Genesis 3 we read about the temptation of the serpent and the deceiving of Adam and Eve. Through them, sin entered the world, and with it all the death and brokenness we see.

Yet in those same verses, we are given the first prophetic promise of the One who would redeem us. In Genesis 3:15, God tells the serpent that from the seed of a woman will come a man who will crush his head; the serpent will bruise his heel, but he will crush the serpent's head. That is the first allusion to the coming of Jesus, thousands of years before He would come.

God the Hint-Giver

How many of you love giving gifts so much that you can't keep the secret—so you drop hints to the recipient along the way? My wife is like that. She wants to give hints rather than wait for you to open it. I think God is like that, because throughout the Old Testament storyline He keeps dropping hints about the One promised in Genesis 3:15.

In Genesis 3:15, all we know is that an individual, a man descended from a woman, will come to destroy the work of the devil. But as the story moves forward, the picture sharpens. In Genesis 12 we learn He will come from a man named Abraham, and through Him will come a blessing to all nations—not just one small group of people. Then we learn it will come through Abraham's son Isaac, then Isaac's son Jacob, then Jacob's son Judah.

Following the story further, we come to a descendant of Judah named Jesse, whose youngest son David became the anointed king of Israel. God promised that this One would come through the line of David. Then about seven or eight hundred years before Jesus, the prophet Isaiah tells us He will be born by miraculous means—a virgin shall conceive and bear a child, and you shall call His name Immanuel, which means "God with us."

And about five hundred years before Jesus, the prophet Micah tells us He will be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). One of the most remarkable things about the Bible is that it gives all these predictions, and when Jesus shows up, He fulfills them all perfectly.

A People Living in Anticipation

By the time Jesus came, many in Israel lived in such constant anticipation that young women hoped and prayed they might be the one through whom He would come. In the middle of all that, we read this in Luke 1:

Now in the sixth month an angel named Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!"

The sixth month was the sixth month after Elizabeth—an older, barren woman—had miraculously conceived a son who becomes John the Baptist.

"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Just as Isaiah had predicted in Isaiah 9. Then Mary asked, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"

And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God."

Immanuel—having the same nature as God. The angel adds that even Elizabeth, called barren, had conceived in her old age, "for with God nothing will be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." It's beautiful.

Jehovah Is Salvation

Their entire culture was looking forward to His coming, just as our entire culture is now built around it. In Matthew 1 we read:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

He was engaged, and suddenly she's found to be pregnant—a precarious situation. Being a good man, he didn't want the law to come against her.

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

What is He saving us from? He is fulfilling the promise of Genesis 3. The name Jesus means "Jehovah is salvation"—He will save His people from their sins.

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

Joseph, roused from sleep, did as the angel commanded, took Mary as his wife, and called his Son's name Jesus—Jehovah is salvation.

A Reason to Rejoice

For centuries the children of Israel looked forward to this One foretold in Genesis 3—the male child from a woman who would destroy the work of the enemy. They knew He would come through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse, and David. They knew He would be born in Bethlehem by miraculous means. They looked forward to the Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace—the One who would establish the rule and reign of God forever.

That is what we celebrate every year, whether tonight, December 23rd, or with family on the 24th or 25th. We celebrate the coming of this One into the world. And in Him alone, as we've been looking at over these last several weeks, is a hope that does not disappoint, a peace that surpasses all understanding, and a joy that increases unto abundance for eternity. In Him alone the love of God is manifested and demonstrated for us. His coming to this world is a reason to rejoice. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we thank You that we have this awesome reason to rejoice, to celebrate, to remember the wonderful things that You have done. Why is this night different from any other night? In so many ways it seems like just another thing—but it's not. You came to the world, and we celebrate and remember Your coming, and we celebrate in anticipation of the time when You will return and come again. We look forward to the time when You will establish Your kingdom forever and ever, the kingdom that the prophet Isaiah predicted would have no end. Lord, we look forward to that. Cause our hearts to praise You and rejoice in You for what You've already done, what You've promised to do, and what You will ultimately accomplish in and through us, Your church. Rejoice our hearts, and help us to sing. In Jesus' name, amen.