Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
Christmas gives to all of us a sense of closeness with God, because we celebrate the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ. Many celebrated the secular events with parties and music and friends and traditions and gift giving. There are those who celebrate from a deeper reflective, perhaps a more introspective point of view. They may not have desired, nor have much by way of materialistic means to celebrate, but they celebrate nonetheless, most likely their celebrations were more meaningful.
God speaks to us at this time of the year in his most tender voice. He sees us willingly approach the manger to look upon the Son of God. He sees us gaze with questions and wonderment at why this Child is so special to all of mankind.
This touching time; these intimate moments we share with our Creator serve a divine purpose. This season draws us to God, and God in turn points us to his Son and says this is your greatest need for He is my ultimate gift to all of mankind.
It was the Father after all who sent the Son. It was the Father who initiated the plan; it was the Son who fulfilled the plan, and it is the Holy Spirit who calls people to respond in faith to the divine plan of God.
Lk.2:10 The holy angels were heralds sent by the heavenly Father to announce the birth of Jesus Christ. The good tidings of great joy is for all people; that means you and me.
The good tidings, the euaggelion, is the good news, a news of great, mega, joy to all people. Paul said it like this in I Cor.15:1-4 read...
Jesus Christ came to save us from the condemnation and judgment of our sins. He was crucified, buried and then raised from the dead on the third day. The good news is we don’t have to let sin rule our lives, we can let God with all of his mercy and grace and love reign over and through us.
The heavenly evangelists came straight from the throne of God seated in the third heavens. They had been with their pre-incarnate creator before the universe was created. The holy angels knew he was the one prophesied of Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” The holy angels knew what the prophet Isaiah said, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Isa.9:6.
Jesus Christ was sent to show us the only way to God. The holy angels worshipped him before he came to earth, while he was on earth, and they will worship him for all eternity.
Isa.55:6 says to all of us... “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.” Call upon him for forgiveness of your sins. Call upon him for salvation of your immortal souls. Call upon him while he may be found, while he is near.
God the Father uses the humble manger scene; the lowly shepherds, and nearby animals. And with all the excitement of the new born child God draws you to him while he may be found. Christmas has lost its meaning when we forget this holy intervention on the part of God toward all mankind.
What you do with the enlightenment God gives you when you find Christ is up to you. What God wants you to do is receive Jesus Christ as your Savior so you can be restored to a right relationship with Him.
If you truly receive Jesus Christ your life will be filled with a sense of wonderment that it has never experienced. The penalty and guilt of all your sins will be removed forever. The gift of Christ is eternal life because by receiving his forgiveness of sins he bestows the gift of eternal life to you. If you are a born again believer and you have lost your sense of wonderment concerning all we have spoken about this morning, then my prayer is you will seek the Lord in a quiet place and have a good heart to heart conversation with him. He has gone no where. He still listens to you; do you still listen to Him?
When we have a right relationship with the Lord, things change for the good for us. The unsaved are forgiven and filled with joy when they come to Christ for salvation, and the believer is forgiven and filled with joy when they come to Christ for restoration of fellowship.
Just as the shepherds returned to their homes glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen and were told, so will you. Your joy will not be able to be contained because your spiritual eyes have seen what the miracle of Christmas is.
I trust you believe in miracles and you will not cease to believe in them. The change in your life is nothing short of a miracle when you accept Jesus Christ.
He rewards your child like faith with forgiveness and an eternal home in heaven. This may seem too simple for most people to grasp. We tend to complicate things for various reasons, but salvation is simple. It’s the apprehension our sin nature throws up at us when we contemplate giving our lives to Jesus Christ that makes this decision difficult.
We are lead to believe that we will loose out on so much in life if we give our free will to Jesus Christ. But are we willing to loose our life and all hope of heaven to hang on to a few short years of fulfilling the desires of earthly independence and pleasure?
As our message tells us today, the angel of the Lord told them the good news; he told them good tidings of great joy. “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” Lk.2:20