Hi, Alex McFarland here, and this Christmas, I want to say to each and everyone listening. We love you. We thank God for you. We wish you a very joyous, Jesus-filled Christmas. But make this the focal point of your Christmas: that Christ the King.
resides in your heart and in your life. and you've put your faith in him. And that every day you truly do feel his presence because you've invited him in. and he's a welcome guest. in your heart, your life, your soul.
That's the most important part of Christmas. But really, it's the most important part of life itself. May God bless you. May God be glorified and Merry Christmas. The spiritual condition of America, Politics, Culture, and Current Events Analyzed Through the Lens of Scripture.
Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. I believe Christmas is one of the most significant times of the year because at Christmas we commemorate one of the most significant happenings in all of history. Hi, Alex McFarland here, and I want to talk to you for a few moments about. The promised Child, the incarnation of Christ foretold. You know, at our house, we love Christmas songs.
In fact, I play Christmas music throughout the year. You know, all the great songs, O Little Town of Bethlehem. Of course, one of my favorite songs ever: O Holy Night. Oh, come all ye faithful. God rest you, merry gentlemen.
And I admit it. I love the secular stuff too. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee. Jingle Bell Rock. White Christmas.
Blue Christmas by Elvis. Santa looked a lot like Daddy by Buck Owens. Right alongside angels we have heard on high, the first Noel and We Three Kings. I just love Christmas, I love Christmas music. And, you know, the church for over 1600 years, Christians have sung about the birth of Jesus.
Maybe the oldest known Christmas carol, and I'm probably going to pronounce this incorrectly: Jesus Rifulsit Omnium. Which was written around 310 AD.
So we're talking over 1700 years ago by a minister, Hilary of Potiers.
Now, this is a Latin title. It means Jesus, Light of All the Nations. One of the oldest Christmas songs. It was most certainly done a cappella back in the time of its beginning. And there are examples of it on YouTube where choirs and chorals have done it again, a cappella.
I want to read you some of the lyrics because this song, 1700 years old, depicts the wise men, the Magi, realizing when they finally arrive and see the baby Jesus. That they realize what this is. And there was Dr. Kevin Hawthorne who translated these ancient lyrics from Latin to English. And it basically, this perhaps oldest of all Christmas songs, basically says this: Jesus, devoted Redeemer of all nations, has shown forth.
Let the whole family of the faithful celebrate the stories. The shining star, gleaming in the heavens, makes him known at his birth, and going before, has led the Magi to his cradle. Falling down they adore the tiny baby, hidden in rags, as they bear witness to the true God who bringing a mystical gift. You know, isn't it amazing that these lyrics written 1700 years ago today we're still remembering, reciting, committing them to digital preservation? And there are other carols.
In the fourth century, there was a writer who created a song that's basically, I won't try to pronounce the Latin, but it's of the Father's Love Begotten. And then, of course, that prompted others like Adesti Fidelis, in Latin for O come all ye faithful. But why is this so important? And why? For 20 centuries has the world noted, beginning with the earliest Christians, but then ultimately the world noting this amazing happening so significant to shape the way we measure time itself, even the year we are in at this point in the twenty first century, we measure time measuring from the arrival of God incarnate.
The baby Jesus, not merely just an infant in Bethlehem. This is the story of God entering the stage of human history, fulfilling a message He foretold, a promise He made centuries before. And so the incarnation of Christ, God enfleshed Himself. It's the centerpiece of God's redemptive plan. I want to look at some of the Old Testament verses because it's woven throughout Genesis through Malachi.
We often say Old Testament, New Testament, and really Testament means covenant. It's like the testator that is part of a will or an estate. And the word means contract, a promise, a guarantee.
Now in the Old Testament, people were told to trust God, put their faith in God's promise of a Messiah that would come.
Now we put our faith in the Messiah that did come. Salvation has always been through faith. By grace through faith, not works. People often ask us, and we've answered it in books and programs: how did people before Christ get saved? Did they just have no hope?
No, of course they had hope. They were to put their faith In the Messiah that God had promised, and countless millions did. The book of Hebrews concludes, very fascinating in the New Testament. It says, these, Deborah, Barak, Samson, Abraham, Moses, all of these people and innumerable unknowns that you won't meet till you get to heaven, they had not received the promise, and yet they trusted God, and they believed God's promise. You and I have every incentive to believe God's promises because we know the whole big story.
We know the tomb is empty. And God's word is true, and Christ did come. But let me share a few points about this. Number one, the Messiah's arrival. was promised long before Bethlehem.
There would be a promise of a divine deliverer. Genesis 3.15, the proto evangelium, the first gospel, the promise that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. Numbers 24, 17 is a scripture, no doubt that Daniel taught the Magi when Daniel was a political prisoner in Persia. And people wondered how did the wise men know?
Well, Numbers 24, 17 says that a star will arise out of Jacob.
Now, this foretold a royal figure who holds a scepter in their hand, because the star would connote one in whose hand is a scepter. There would be a royal figure emerging out of Israel. The star foretold. Micah 5:2, the location foretold. 700 plus years before the birth of Jesus, Bethlehem was promised that the Messiah would be born there.
And that he would be born of a virgin.
So there is the prophecy of the Savior.
Now let's talk about the nature of the Savior.
Well, he would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7, 14, he would have no sin. Isaiah 9, 6 through 7.
Well, we really read Isaiah 9, verse 2, and then 6 and 7. But the people would see a great light, and the darkness would be dispelled as a child. Called the mighty God the everlasting Father. These are astonishing titles for a newborn.
So God not only promised a child, He promised a king unlike any that Israel or the world had ever known. Stay tuned. Alex McFarland here. We've got a brief break. We'll come back and we'll talk more about the promised child, the incarnate Lord, foretold.
Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. You know, at Christmas time, you think about how grateful you are for the past year. And I share a letter that we just got. A teenage girl that was in one of our camps, she said, Mr.
McFarlane, I've never read a book for more than five minutes, but since going to your biblical worldview camp last summer, I read my Bible 45 minutes every day. Praise God. And as Christmas time comes, I want to say thank you to all the people who pray and financially support our ministry as we call people to Christ and youth to serve God and country. But what about you? Do you know Christ?
You know, Jesus is as close by as a prayer. And if you need help in your walk with the Lord or encouragement, you can go to my website, which is alexmcfarlane.com, and there's a tab there. What does God say about my relationship with Him? In the meantime, Stand strong, be bold, thank you for your prayers and support, and in the new year, let's do great things for the sake of the gospel. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely.
Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. Merry Christmas to one and all. I hope that you have a very blessed Happy Christ-filled Christmas, and we're talking about the verses in the Bible that reference the coming of Jesus. And I mentioned in the first segment How We Love Music.
You know, one of the great songs that we don't want to forget, and it's over 200 years old, it was written by Gustave Holst in the bleak midwinter. And besides being very scriptural, it's just great poetry. But it says this: In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron. water like a stone. Snow had fallen, snow on snow.
In the bleak midwinter long ago, Now listen to this. Our God has Heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain Heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter, a stable place sufficed. The Lord God Almighty. Jesus Christ.
You see, there had been 400 silent years. I mean, really, the bleak midwinter of world history. That's very apropos. Malachi had completed the Old Testament. The Jews had been in Babylonian captivity.
They did wander back. They came to Jerusalem. But the promised land and Israel's homeland was under Roman rule. And so centuries went by. And maybe one might have assumed the promises of a Savior, a deliverer, had somehow become moot, and and yet, as CS Lewis said, all of history comes down to a Jewish girl at her prayers.
And Gabriel appears, you know.
Now, in the bleak midwinter, maybe you feel like your life is in just a cold, hard, dark place with very little or no hope. But there is hope, and we'll talk further about this. In the first segment, we talked about that Jesus' arrival was promised long before Bethlehem. Secondly, I want to say this: that there was the promise that the Messiah The Redeemer, the Saviour, the Deliverer. The king.
He would be both human and and divine. All right, the the Old Testament hints at The incarnation, the God-man. And we, with the benefit of history and the New Testament and centuries of great thinkers unpacking and exegeting God's word, it might seem pretty clear, but I can sort of understand how people back in the day, I mean, it would have been very hard to connect the dots, and yet the hints were there. Psalm 45, 6 and 7, the Messiah is addressed as God. yet distinct from God.
It says, Your God has anointed you.
Now, the only way to understand this is really understanding God's self-revelation, His disclosure of His nature one, but yet Three persons. Deuteronomy 6, 1 through 4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. And yet, even back in the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1:26, you see the triune nature of God, at least alluded to. It says, Let us make man in our image. There is the oneness, God's single nature.
There are not multiple gods, there is one God. By definition, God is in a category of one. and yet eternally existent. As Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three personalities within the Godhead. not conflicting with each other.
Always in harmony and agreement with each other. And so many of these passages, like my God says to God, How do you understand that?
Well, through the triune nature of God. Daniel 7, 13 and 14, one like unto the Son of Man. By the way, 82 times Christ appoints this title, Son of Man, to himself. He receives eternal dominion from the ancient of days. He's at the right hand of the throne of the Father.
Co-equal coeternal and yet distinct. And so the Old Testament hints at the God-man. And then there are prophecies about the incarnation, how God would walk onto the stage of human history. Jeremiah 23, 5 through 6. is one of the examples of the incarnation explained through prophecy.
The coming king that would sit on the throne of David would be called. The Lord, our righteousness. And whenever you see in the Bible Lord, all capitalized, L-O-R-D, all caps, it means Almighty God. And so there would be one, and if you don't know Scripture, I can understand how this is surprising to people. But from the line of King David, From Jesse, from David, from Solomon.
Centuries after King David lived, there would be one called Almighty God Our Righteousness. God incarnate, not merely A righteous king, but listen, one who is righteousness itself. And so the God-man would not only arrive miraculously. He would come. with a great mission.
to save. The third point I want to make is that this Messiah would come. to save the world through suffering. Isaiah 53, 4-6, that the servant would bear our griefs and iniquities. And salvation Isaiah 53, 6.
Salvation would come about through wounds that he was subjected to. Zachariah 12:10. says one day Israel Listen, quote, will look on me whom they have pierced.
Sounds like the cross, doesn't it? And God himself speaking foretold the crucifixion centuries before it was even known as a means of execution. Psalm twenty-two, they would pierce his hands and his feet. It's amazing that Jesus was the child born to die. The birth of a baby is cause for celebration.
A new life, a child is born, and yet Christmas, the cradle, and the cross are inseparable. Isn't that something? They point to each other, really. But the prophecies about Jesus, they don't end with suffering. The Old Testament points to the kingdom that he would inaugurate.
And we've got to take a brief break. And that's why some of the great old hymns. They speak of the coming kingdom of Christ. Joy to the world, Isaac Watts wrote. No more let sin and sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground.
There's going to be a day where the thorns, the briars, the poison ivy. They're going to be gone. It's going to be Eden restored. But that couldn't come about without first the cross, the empty tomb. But even prior to that, the manger, the cradle, the newborn king.
Stay tuned, we have a break. We'll be back with more about Christmas and Christ's coming after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Christian author and speaker Alex McFarland is an advocate for Christian apologetics.
Teaching in more than 2,200 churches around the world, schools, and college campuses. Alex is driven by a desire to help people grow in relationship with God. He arms his audiences with the tools they need to defend their faith, while also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert.
To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmacfarland.com or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program and Merry Christmas. We will reconvene our look at scriptures regarding the promised birth of Jesus.
But let me encourage you to think about next summer. Joining us for an unforgettable visit at the Billy Graham Training Center, the Cove, in Western North Carolina, Asheville. I'll be there twice, and let me encourage you to go to their website, thecove.org. I'll be there July 17 through 19. That's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
And I'll be teaching through my new book on Bible prophecy and the end times, the books of Daniel and Revelation. If you want to get a handle on Bible prophecy, that's July 17 through 19. But then I'll be back very short time after that, July 27 through 31, with world-renowned apologist Dr. Gary Habermas, longtime friend and colleague. And we'll be doing an overview of apologetics and how you can defend your faith confidently in any situation.
You can learn more about that, and it will fill up. We've been there for 20 summers, and it is just unforgettable.
So go to thecove.org. Also, please, if you would, visit alexmacfarland.com. We have hundreds of articles up and answers to questions.
So much that's going on. My tour schedule next summer. We'll continue our speaker series, our evangelism schools, our summer camps for youth, and we would encourage you to consider investing in this every year. I give God the glory. We have thousands of people saved.
They make a salvation decision and many, many, many young people. In fact, this past year was the biggest year ever.
So please consider a donation, tax deductible. You can give at alexmcfarlane.com or mail a check if you would to Alex McFarland Ministries, P.O. Box 485, Pleasant Garden, North Carolina, 27313. And I thank you. But let's continue.
We're talking about Christmas, the promised Messiah of both Old and New Testaments. And the final point is that the birth of Jesus would usher in the kingdom of peace.
Now it's amazing. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. That was the birthplace of King David. And King David would be the predecessor of Jesus. And Jesus would sit on the throne of David.
So this is very significant prophetically. And this is just one of those examples of a narrative history that only God could craft. Mm. Bethlehem is also the burial site of Rachel.
Now why is this significant? Rachel was the wife of Jacob, who was renamed Israel. And in Jeremiah 31:3 through 4. And this is also recorded in Matthew 2, 16 and 17. What scholars and historians call the slaughter of the innocents.
Herod was angry that he was outsmarted by the wise men. He called himself the king of the Jews. And it says in Matthew 2, which is a quotation of Jeremiah 31: a voice was heard in Rhema, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children, She refused to be comforted because they were no more. And as Herod had all the baby boys two years and younger, killed.
Thinking that he would exterminate this one that the wise men call the king of the Jews. Rachel weeping, for her children. Because they are no more.
Now, what is the significance of all this?
Well, Rachel, wife of Jacob, was buried in Bethlehem. and Rachel had died giving birth to Benjamin. their child. And centuries later, the Apostle Matthew refers to Rachel weeping.
Now, what's interesting is about five miles from Bethlehem is the town of Rhema.
Now, Rhema was on the border of the northern and Southern kingdoms. And in a way, the community there, Rhema, functioned as a representative for either territory, northern or southern kingdom. Or both. And Rhemah was the place where Nebuchadnezzar assembled all the people of Judah for their long trek into Babylonian slavery. That's in Jeremiah 40, verse 1.
Now, Rachel is a Jewish matriarch associated with the northern kingdom of Israel. And her mourning For one thing, Jacob wept when he kissed Rachel. But Rachel wept for for the really the the hard destiny. of the Jewish people. She died giving birth to Benjamin.
The Rhemah weeping, that is a reference to the Assyrian captivity, which began in seven thirty three. And so the slaughter of the innocents by Herod really is the coalescing of all these things about the death of Jews and the bondage. But what's so interesting In Jeremiah 31, there's the promise of a hope and a restoration of Israel. And so, some of the verses that speak to all of this, the Messianic birth of Jesus, ushering in the kingdom of peace, the wiping away of tears, Rachel weeping no more. For one thing, there would be a restoring, reigning kingdom.
King, Isaiah 11:1 through 10, out of Jesse's stump will come the branch. Who brings peace, justice, and renewal to creation. David's father, Jesse, means gift of God. Hosea 11.1 Out of Egypt have I called my son. You know, it's interesting this prophecy that Matthew applies to Christ's infancy.
That Joseph would be warned in a dream to take the child to Egypt until those who wanted to kill. the baby would be dead themselves. And the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, is the beginning, the dawn of the kingdom of God.
Now Jesus humbly arrives, quietly borne, Not in royal splendor, but in In humble human flesh Philippians two. He took on human flesh. And Christmas, this is why it's so significant. It marks the beginning of the kingdom of God breaking into human history. And it's the culmination of a centuries-long plan.
Now, in this show, we've given so many Old Testament verses, but in the New Testament, so many of these things are referenced. You know, Matthew 1, the birth of Jesus. Matthew 2, the visit of the wise man. Matthew 2, 13 through 15, the flight to Egypt. Sixteen through twenty-three, the slaughter of the babies.
Luke 1 and 2, the birth of Jesus foretold, Mary visiting Elizabeth. The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. And of course, Jesus being presented at the temple.
Now all of these things we celebrate. Not just the birth of Jesus, important as that is, but the faithfulness of God, the arrival of of the Savior king Foretold, foretold. from the very, very beginning. You know, earlier I mentioned the lyrics to that great song, In the Bleak. Midwinter.
in history's darkest, deadest season The Savior was born. You know, that poem in the Bleak Midwinter also has a very good point. has this great, great line. Many children have learned it. what can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring him a lamb if I were a wise man, I would do my part. Yet What can I give him? I'll give him my heart. What can I give? I'll give him my heart.
Hope you've done that. Jesus is as close by as a prayer. and the incarnation of God Proclaimed, told, and retold for centuries. It shows that God keeps his promises, the Savior has come. And for all who put their faith in Him.
They'll be with him forever. We'll talk more about this next week. In the meantime, Merry Christmas. and every blessing to you. Alex McFarlane Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you.
For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmacfarlane.com. You may also reach us by calling 1-877-YESGOD and the number 1. That's 1-877-Y-E-S-G-O-D-1. Thanks for joining us.
We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarlane Show.
