Christmas Eve Eve Service

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world would be registered... So Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, unto Judea, to the city of David, which was called Bethlehem... And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in the manger because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2)

Why is this night different from every other night? Because it remembers the most important event in all of human history.

Why This Night Is Different

It is so good to see all of you here tonight. This is an important time of year—a good time to celebrate and rejoice together. At the Jewish Passover, a different time of year entirely, there is a gathering called the Seder, where the youngest child asks a traditional question that has been asked for thousands of years: "Why is this night different from other nights?"

I love that question, and I bring it up when we gather on the 23rd to consider why this time we commemorate is different than other times. In some respects it seems like any other time, but it is not. It is important for us to consider what this event we are celebrating is all about.

An Event in Obscurity, Yet Supreme in History

The amazing thing is that the event we celebrate at Christmas is the most important event in all human history, yet it happened in relative obscurity. We do not know the day it happened. We don't know the exact location. We don't even know the exact time of year. We have educated guesses, since it seems to have happened close to the Feast of Dedication, which falls around this time of year in Israel. But we don't know all the details of where and when.

That which happened in obscurity 2,000 years ago is the most important event in all of human history—not just because of what the birth of this child was, but because of what was taking place outside of time when He was born.

The Incarnation

Paul speaks in Philippians about what was happening in the spiritual realm during this birth in Bethlehem:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven, of those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. (Philippians 2:5)

Paul is describing the incarnation—that big theological word for God becoming a man, coming to earth in human flesh. We sang about it tonight in that beautiful arrival song, which speaks of the infinite God as this infant child. What a beautiful and amazing thing that He humbled Himself and came down to us.

So while we remember the birth in Bethlehem, we should recognize it as the incarnation of the King of Kings. He came down for a very specific purpose, which we will celebrate again in the springtime as we remember the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

The Fulcrum of All History

For the better part of the last 1,500 years, all of the Western world has centered its annual calendar around this birth. We refer to the year in which we live as the year of our Lord. Our entire world is centered around this one whom some in our culture would like to purge from history. But you cannot do it. It's impossible.

This is the familiar passage from Luke 2 that even many who never read the Bible have heard—perhaps on the Charlie Brown Christmas special. It is a very simple story of an event that happened in obscurity but is anything but insignificant. It was not just a birth; it was the incarnation of the King of Kings. And that birth is the child that all human history looked forward to before, and that all human history looks back to after. It is the fulcrum of all human history.

The First Gospel: Genesis 3:15

How do we know human history looked forward to this child? Go back to the oldest documents of antiquity, the Scriptures. In Genesis 3, after the fall, God makes a prophetic pronouncement about a male child who would come from the seed of a woman and destroy the work of the enemy:

I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed... He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

Theologians call this the first gospel in the Scriptures. From this point until the angels announced to the shepherds, "Behold this day Christ has been born to you," all of human history was looking forward to that promise of redemption—the one who would come to deal with the horror of the fall.

The Line Narrows

From Genesis 3:15, jump a few chapters to Genesis 12, where God calls a man named Abram:

Come and follow me by faith... I'm going to bless you, and make your name great... And in you, all the nations, all the peoples of the world will be blessed. (Genesis 12)

The child would come through the family of Abraham, then through Isaac, then through Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Israel had twelve sons, and God said the child would come through Judah. Continuing on, God promised the child would come through the seed of Jesse, whose youngest son was a shepherd boy named David. David became king, and God promised that through the royal line of King David, the Messiah would come.

The prophets narrowed it further. The child would be born by miraculous means: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a child, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us" (Isaiah 7). His nature is described in Isaiah 9: "His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." And Micah told us the place: this child would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

Throughout the Old Testament there is prophecy after prophecy after prophecy of this first coming—the anointed Redeemer, born of a woman, come to overthrow the work of the serpent. Perhaps you can see why all of human history was looking forward to His birth.

The Announcement to Mary

In Luke 1, the angel Gabriel was sent to a virgin in Nazareth named Mary, betrothed to Joseph of the house of David:

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 you will call his name Jesus. He will be great. He 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. (Luke 1:26)

When Mary asked how this could be, the angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore, the Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God... For with God nothing shall be impossible." And Mary said, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord. Let it be according to your word."

The Announcement to Joseph

Matthew records that when Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit, Joseph, being a just man, planned to put her away secretly. But an angel appeared to him in a dream:

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary as 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. (Matthew 1:18)

All this was done to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated God with us." Joseph did as the angel commanded, and he called the child's name Jesus, which means "Jehovah is salvation."

God With Us

He has come to save His people. He came to seek and to save that which is lost. He came to give His life a ransom for many. He came to give life, and to give it more abundantly. He is a light in the darkness. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Wonderful Counselor. He is Emmanuel—God with us.

He is the demonstration of the love of God—love incarnate in the flesh. He is peace and hope and joy embodied. He is the one anticipated for thousands of years and the one who continues to be regarded as the greatest in all history, at whose name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory of the Father.

In Him alone is a hope that does not disappoint, that is sure and steadfast, an anchor for our souls; a peace that surpasses all understanding, that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus; and a joy that increases unto abundance for eternity.

That is the good news of this day. Why is what we will celebrate in a couple of days different from every other day? Because this is the day we remember the greatest event that happened in all human history, and we proclaim it to a world that desperately needs the light that Christ brings. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Father God, thank You. Thank You for the opportunity to gather together to rejoice in You, Lord, to be grateful for Your coming—that You humbled Yourself, stepping down to our lowly estate, because there is no possible way that we could by our efforts or our good works reach up to You. You came down to us so that You might redeem us. Lord, we rejoice in You. And I pray that tonight, and the celebration over the next couple of days, would be a joyful celebration as we rejoice in You and the good news of Your birth, and that we would have an opportunity to share that good news with others. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, "Amen."