The Birth Of Jesus Is Of No Value
How’s that title for an eye-catcher, huh? You always learn in Homiletics class that your first statement ought to capture the attention of your audience. That ought to do it. Now, please read the whole thing before you decide to whip me with a candy cane. It will become clear by the time you get to the bottom. I promise.
This is a time when we Christians tend to get bogged down with the baby in the manger, the fact of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, into humanity. And many verses in the Bible support that. And I have no problem with that. But, that isn’t enough. Beyond historical fact of the event is the purpose or the reason for the coming of Christ into the world and into human flesh. Let me give you a context of verses you wouldn’t ordinarily think of as a Christmas text, but, I maintain it is. Because it covers the birth of Jesus from the aspect of the purpose of God. There is no cute and cuddly, here. But there is plenty of reason to praise Him for His birth.
"For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more con- science of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body 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,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Hebrews 10:1-9).
There is a reason for the birth of the baby in Bethlehem. He was to be “the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). It is appropriate that shepherds would be in attendance at His birth, since He is the sacrificial lamb of God. He was born to be the sacrifice for sin, in keeping with the Law, to fulfill it in the lives of many. He was our substitute, Who paid our debt, to pay for our sin, by way of our faith in that substitution. When He hung on the cross, He did it as me, as you, so that, by faith we could live. He was born so our sin could die, forever and our souls could live forever. He rose to defeat death for us, which would have entrapped all. In His captivity He made us free. In His humanity He made us immortal. In His resurrection and ascension He made us glorious, though its reality is still prospective, for another time. His resurrection gives us the power to live our lives in obedience to Him. He ascended to prepare our homecoming, to receive us to Himself, so that where [He is], there [we] may be also” (John 14:3). In faith, in His death, we are “born again” (John 3:3, 5), “not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23). We are therefore forgiven of our past and born into “newness of life” that we might, by His power and in His truth live lives of victorious fellowship with Him and each other; “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). None of these things were intended, in the economy of God, to be provided in any other way.
He was “the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world”(Revelation 13:8). I want you to let that thought soak in for a moment. In His foreknowledge, God knew He’s have to redeem us, you and me, by name, before there was a man who sinned, from the first moment of the world. That is how much you, personally, matter to almighty God. The song says, “He loved me e’er I knew Him.” What a thought! The Scripture says, “ We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). There was a sacrificial system in place. But, the blood of those bull and goats and sheep were not effectual in removing sin from and individual or a nation, though they were offered for both. They were a reminder that we are unclean and live among the unclean and have need to be cleansed from our imperfection. Now, that doesn’t happen, entirely, in this life. We are still in a flesh that lusts to please itself rather than God. Understand that. But, when we stand before Christ we will be totally righteous and holy. We should long for that day. The Law stood as a constant reminder that we are sinners and thus, fulfilled its purpose for being. Enter, Jesus Christ, God the Son, born into humanity, yet, fully God to take away the sin of all in the world who would believe Him for life. That is why the baby was born. I love that little baby. I love His cross and I love that He is coming again for me, so I may be glorified in Him, forever. So, God, in the fulfillment of His purpose, at exactly, the right time, sent his Son into the world to free all who were bound to sin and helpless to do anything to do anything about it (us). And He has provided the way for that freedom of soul and spirit and gave us the right to address God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-6). So, Jesus, in obedience to the will of the Father, by His determination to demonstrate His tremendous love for us, agreed. And through the utterance of prophetic writing, declared, purposely, determinedly, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me…” (Hebrews 10:5).
The cross of Calvary is the reason for this season we celebrate as Christmas. The baby boy in the manger was the means, the vehicle through which the Son of God became the Son of Man, to be the sacrifice for mankind, so that we could become the sons of God. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, [He] who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). If an emotional, warm feeling toward a little baby being born, without much more thought about it, without questioning why the baby was born in Bethlehem and why that is important to us, without investigating the rest of the story about Him, then, the birth of Jesus is of no value in your life. And that is a very sad thing. For, though, you emote over the baby, you have failed to make Him part of your life. Your celebration is empty, your life is without purpose and your existence is meaningless in this world. You are not saved. Please, trust the Christ of Christmas to be your Savior from sin. Turn to Him and live your life through Him. If you are a Christian, saved, but, not living for this wonderful Savior, ask Him to forgive you and make Him the hallmark of the living of the rest of your life. Have a godly and blessed Christmas this year and every day of your life.
