Christophonies before Christmas

TNG Radio, where today's culture and timeless truths come together. It's reasoned, relevant content apologetics, worldview, and answers to the questions that you need to know. From Alex McFarland Ministries, this is Truth for a New Generation Radio. And now the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland.

Welcome to TNG Radio. Alex McFarland here, and we're so glad to be sharing a little time with you. We're going to look at some Bible verses, and I do want to say to everybody, we're getting closer and closer to Christmas. We wish you a very merry Christmas. I hope you have just a wonderful time, a happy, happy, joyful Christmas. We wish you a very merry, joyful time, a Jesus-filled Christmas.

All of these things, I like it. I like it as we get closer and closer to Christmas. The main thing, not only the season and seeing family and loved ones and the songs and the sights and the food of Christmas, the sweet treats we all get, but the main thing I love about Christmas is the story of the coming of our Savior. And it really is the greatest story ever told. And I want to talk about Christ coming into the stage of human history and some of the things about God's powerful, gentle, unstoppable grace. God's grace. Now, we hear a lot about grace, and I would say Christmas is one immeasurably significant example of the grace of God.

And I want to share a verse with you now that is a verse you may not ordinarily associate with Christmas. But 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9, very famously, the Apostle Paul says, �His, God's strength, is made perfect in our weakness.� What does that mean? God's strength made perfect in weakness? Well, we know God's strength is perfect anyway.

Everything about the Lord is perfect and righteous and holy anyway. But in our state of weakness, at our point of greatest need, when God comes through, God's strength is vividly, unmistakably, perfectly displayed in our weakness. And Christmas shows us the unrestrained power of God's strength and grace.

Now think about this. Christ's ministry on earth. He was born in the Bethlehem manger. He grew up in the home of Joseph and Mary. Joseph was a carpenter.

And some historians say that it really means carver, wood carver. So what all did Joseph make, and how all did Jesus learn the hard work of labor? We don't completely know what all Joseph made, but Jesus grew up as the son of a carpenter. And then at age 30, started his ministry. And think about it. In three years, Jesus had the most important, most crucial, I mean quite literally, eternity hung in the balance, this mission. Think about all that God had to accomplish to enact the story of our redemption. Now in this outline, we're going to talk about the Old Testament appearances of Christ a little bit, but think about revelation. Think about redemption. Think about relationship.

And think about restoration. Christmas is one example, yes, of the grace and the power of God, the wisdom of God, the sovereignty of God, that God's work and God's plan would not be overthrown, but I would say Christmas is another example of God's revelation to the human race. Isn't it a blessing to know, isn't it a blessing to think about that God has revealed Himself to the human race. God has shown us who He is.

God has shown us that He is. And think about, in all the things that Jesus had to accomplish, for one thing, the sin of humanity had to be atoned for. The unbelief, the sin, the plain ignorance of the Hebrew nation had to be overcome, and that does relate to some of these Christophanies we're going to talk about. But we've got the sin that needed to be atoned for, the ignorance and the unbelief of the Hebrew nation that was a mountainous challenge. The world governments run by fallen men must not be allowed to obstruct God's work of salvation. The church had to be initiated, the Holy Spirit sent in power, masses of believers be enlisted in the Great Commission. And there was a lot, a lot, a lot that God had to cover in this wonderful thing called His revelation, His redemption, our relationship with Him, His restoration of all things. Now think about this.

Talk about pressure. The physical death and the spiritual judgment of 40 billion souls must be eclipsed by eternal life, and the insatiable jaws of the grave must be halted. The wickedness of countless demons contained.

The wickedness of Satan, countless demons contained. God Himself would be laid completely vulnerable into the hands of Satan, who would have been ready at any moment to kill God if at all possible. I mean literally, in the coming of Christ, in the story of Christmas, in the ministry of Jesus, in Calvary, in the resurrection, eternity would hang in the balance.

I mean you and I, you and I would be hopelessly, helplessly lost eternally were it not for Christmas. That's why, you know, I'm very much moved by songs like O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel. See, ransom is when somebody's held hostage, somebody's in bondage, enslaved, a price to set somebody free. And so we literally were hostage to sin. We were condemned by our own guilt. Eternity did hang in the balance, and salvation would mean that the fight of the ages between heaven and hell, everything holy against the forces of evil. These were the stakes, and all of this had to get accomplished by a baby. And we've got to take a break.

We're going to come back and talk about this more on today's edition of TNG Radio, Truth for a New Generation, with Alex McFarland after this. or being on hold. The average person will spend more than one year looking for lost objects. Be a good steward of time and resources. Set goals, plan well, seek the Lord's leading, and try to address goals, needs, and ministry assignments each day. Aim high, aim well. Proverbs 17, 24 notes that an intelligent person aims at wise actions.

Use your time wisely. And as 1 Corinthians 10, 31 says, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Visit iamawatchman.com for resources to help you in your spiritual walk. Be bold, be faithful, be a watchman. iamawatchman.com You don't need to have a Bible degree from Liberty University to love, serve, pray, worship, or obey God, but it can make life more vibrant when you do.

When you're ready for a religious studies degree, you'll find more than 60 ministry degree options, from a bachelor's to a doctorate of ministry. And you'll pay one low block rate for divinity courses at Liberty University, where we train champions for Christ. Go to liberty.edu backslash explore to learn more.

That's liberty.edu backslash explore to learn more. We care about justice and aren't afraid to ask hard questions. In fact, we care about a lot of things. We have passion for truth. We are engage magazine.net an online group of millennials brought together by a common goal to share truth, apply scripture, and to get involved in our lost and hurting world. engagemagazine.net host discussions that help you apply a biblical worldview to your daily life. engagemagazine.net You know, Alex has been writing for many years, and one of his classic books is still great today as a basic introduction to the Christian faith. It's called Stand, Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakable Faith. This book will help you help your teens get off the roller coaster of doubt and onto solid ground. You'll read about the six pillars of biblical Christianity. They are one, inspiration of the Bible, two, the virgin birth, three, the deity of Christ, four, atonement, five, Christ's resurrection, and six, Christ's return. You know, Alex mixes it up with humor and stories he gleaned from decades of working with youth and encourages teens to build a foundation of faith that will stabilize their lives and help them take a stand for Christ.

Simple and straightforward, Stand, Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakable Faith, available wherever Christian books are sold. Welcome back to the program. I'm so honored that you're listening, Truth for a New Generation. And you know, I just want to say this.

I kind of get a little reflective and sentimental as the year draws to a close. And I want to say a big, big thank you to everybody this year who's prayed for me as an evangelist. There are several dozen churches that have allowed me to come in and preach and teach. We did three big Truth for a New Generation conferences in three different states, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. And we had people come from, oh my goodness, you know, probably totally 20 states to hear myself, speakers like Josh McDowell, Erwin Lutzer, Miki Addison, Abe Hamilton, Bill Federer, and so many, many others. And for all who prayed for Truth for a New Generation, for all who attended and got equipped to defend the faith. And we had people saved and some baptized on the second day of the conference.

And I just want to say thank you. And then I think about our camp. We had the Truth for a New Generation apologetics camp. College can be costly. The tuition isn't cheap either. Now think about that.

Why do I say that? Because so many young people, even young people raised in Christian homes, and they make a profession of faith perhaps, but they go to college. And they are inundated with just the militant secularism of the university campus. And they turn away from Jesus. They compromise their morals.

Some even turn against America. So we do our summer camp every year to equip. Rather than try to fix broken adults, we try to preemptively equip godly young people. So you can learn more at my own website, which is AlexMcFarland.com. We've got a calendar. We do a lot of topics.

I mean, if you're interested, by the way, I'll just say this and we'll get back to Christmas. But some of the topics that I've been able to write on in my 18 books, To God Be the Glory, My Speaking, we talk about this. Here's one of my seminars I get requested to do. The 10 most common objections to Christianity and how to effectively answer them. What you'll hear your freshman year, preparing for the ways that college will challenge your faith. Another what we do is under attack the assault against scripture and the facts that verify the Bible's divine origin.

Things like that. One of the topics we talk about, the biblical reality of hell. And I do a seminar called Divine Retribution, reconciling the love of God with the reality of hell. So regardless if it's a revival or you would like to do a biblical worldview apologetic seminar, we want to help your church be equipped to stand strong for truth, to stand strong for God and country. So we're here. And I do want to say to the American Family Association and American Family Radio and all the stations that carry the program, we're partners together in the harvest, aren't we? And I just am so deeply grateful for all of you as we pray, proclaim Jesus. And I believe it, folks. I'm going to tell you why we do what we do. We believe that God is going to send a great revival to this nation.

Now I know we live in a time that seems like unrelenting darkness. And to be sure, there's a lot to be concerned about. There's a lot that we're praying about. And I hope as the new year gets closer, you're committed to be in the Word. I hope you're on your knees in prayer.

I hope you have taken up the privilege and really the duty of being an intercessor for America. But together, let's see the Lord move in our culture, in our nation, and in the lives of our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. Listen, I believe God has mercy. And just as he sent Jesus into this world so many centuries ago, the Spirit of God can invade our nation.

And how desperately we need that. And so before the break, we were talking about when God came onto the stage of human history. Now in the Old Testament, you'll see what are called Christophanies, a pre-Bethlehem appearance of Christ. Now we know in the Bethlehem manger, Mary laid the baby Jesus, the newborn, born of a virgin, had no sin nature, the sinless Son of God.

But really, if you read the Old Testament, times like I mentioned Hagar or Jacob. Jacob spoke in Genesis 48 of God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, as the angel which did redeem me from all evil. See, the word angelos, or angel, means messenger. And in the Old Testament, when you see the phrase, quote, angel of the Lord, that's generally not just one of the created angels like Gabriel or Michael, but angel of the Lord really means the messenger of God. Because the writers of Scripture and the ones that they're writing about, whether it be Jacob or Lot or Abraham, they refer to the angel of the Lord as the messenger, Jehovah, or God. And so if you look at the context, very often you see that the angel of the Lord was really Jesus appearing to his creatures before Bethlehem, even. Now let me read in Judges 6, where Gideon meets with, quote, the angel of the Lord. And in verse 12 of Judges 6, it says the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, and Gideon replied and says, the Lord looked upon him, or the Lord looked upon me.

So in its all caps, L-O-R-D. In other words, Yahweh, Almighty God. So it wasn't just an angel, but this angel of the Lord was very often God himself, in fact Jesus.

Now, why? Let me read you a quote. The great Scottish preacher who's long been with the Lord, but J. Sidlow Baxter, he said this, listen to this. The Old Testament appearances of Christ, quote, were a means of preparing man's mind for the coming miracle of the Incarnation, by which the Son of God should actually become one in the human race, and one with the human race. Another writer said this, that the Christophanies, these Old Testament appearances of Christ, they suggest as their natural explanation that God was unveiling himself before the eyes of his creatures. Why would God not appear? To have been training his people for this long and serious series of communications, so that they would recognize him, worship him, and in the end, undissolubly have a relationship with him.

The Old Testament appearances of God happened, quote, in anticipation of a coming incarnation of God. Now folks, we've got to take a break, and when we come back, what we're going to cover are some victories of the baby Jesus, the coming of Christ, and things that Christmas shows us about the grace, power, and sovereignty, and yes, love of God. Stay tuned, we're back after this.

We'll be back after this. If you're a Christian parent, you of course want to instill a biblical view of life in the hearts of your children. If you're a pastor, you want to offer ministry that draws young families to your church. This is Alex McFarland encouraging you to check out my new book and video curriculum, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. I interviewed hundreds of children, ages 5 to 12, and we address actual questions from actual children, the spiritual issues that are on the minds of your kids. The book and video lessons are great for groups of any size and was produced with the goal of equipping kids to stand strong for Christ in any situation. The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, the book, study guide, and video series, you'll find it at afastore.net.

That's afastore.net. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex McFarland is a voice you can trust to speak the timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. You're listening to Truth for a New Generation Radio.

Welcome back to Truth for a New Generation Radio. I love the story of Christmas because it seems like a paradox that the world would be conquered by a baby. One of the songwriters, I love this song, infant holy, infant lowly, for his bed, a cattle stall, oxen lowing, little knowing, Christ the Babe is Lord of all. That's good poetry.

And besides good poetry, it's actually good theology. Now, this song, they say, dates back to the 1300s, from pre-Reformation Poland, that the little baby in the manger is Lord of all. So what does all this tell us? What does Christmas and the victory of a baby show us? Well, several things, and I want you to listen carefully, because this just might be where your heart is right now, and maybe the situation. As much as we love Christmas, it's a joyful time, but it can be a hard time, because in the last 12 months, some of you may have had a bereavement, and loved ones that you celebrated Christmas with last year are not with you this year. And there's health issues, and job, and a lot of struggles.

But get this out of Christmas, several things, folks. Number one, God's grace is sufficient for our circumstances. At the time of Jesus' birth, Israel was under the subjugation of an occupying nation, Rome. And you know, even 2,000 years ago, the Jews had a mixed reputation. Now, neighboring countries eye the Jewish people with a mixture of suspicion and sometimes scorn, I think envy. When other nations would try to attack Israel and steal the Ark of the Covenant, they knew that Israel had the oracles of God. And so Jesus came into a country that some knew they were God's chosen people, and they had gotten very arrogant about that, and they were carnal, but they thought merely because they were of the Jewish ethnicity, they would automatically go to heaven.

And there were others that had almost rejected their Jewishness and adopted Roman practices or Gentile practices. But in all of that, at a time of spiritual, social, cultural disarray, God prevailed. God is sovereign. His grace is sufficient. And God's grace is sufficient now for people, for the church, for you.

Let me say this. God's grace is bigger than our past mistakes. Praise the Lord for that. Jesus came into a people who had spent the past 3,000 years wandering in and out of obedience, falling in and out of slavery, vacillating on and off, sometimes obedient, sometimes disobedient, sometimes believing, sometimes apostatizing.

And Jesus came to an Israel that had so perverted the religion God had given to them, many couldn't even understand that Christ's birth was the fulfillment of long, cherished prophecies. And yet God's grace is bigger than our past mistakes. Are you with me, folks? Are you glad that God still loves us in spite of our stumbles and our failures, our disobedience? Listen, you might have been in sin.

Maybe you're listening to this program hung over from last night. Jesus loves you. I saw a t-shirt.

I love this. It said, not only is God not mad at you, He's not even in a bad mood. But He does say, turn to Me and repent. God's grace is bigger than your past mistakes. Thirdly, God's grace empowers the powerless, and God's grace and Jesus's coming was carried out with wisdom beyond human understanding. I mean, think about this. The souls of the human race, history itself, who carried God incarnate, the Messiah, into this world? A teenage girl.

Isn't that something? Who would God use to protect the Savior from political powers that wanted to kill the babies, religious and political operatives that wanted Him dead? A young, engaged couple privately hiding out under the shame of a curious, unexpected pregnancy. And God used them to protect the life of this baby. Who would Heaven itself appear before? The angels in the Heaven. The Heavens would open up and they were announced to the shepherd. The lowest group on the social totem pole... Do you know, there's a Mishnah writing from several hundred years ago, and this was a commentary on the Old Testament. And a Mishnah note said there is no more despicable occupation than that of a shepherd. And yet the lowest group on the social totem pole were the first to hear that unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Look, a group viewed with contempt? Nobody wanted to be with them.

The career nobody wanted to have. And the greatest news in all of history? The birth of Jesus was shared with the shepherds.

I want to say this. Christmas reminds me, hallelujah, that the grace of God is stronger than all the demonic powers. Jesus, the little baby, was safely brought into the world. Salvation was carried out. The Church was started. The Church is preserved. The Scriptures were given. The Scriptures were preserved, copied, circulated. Satan himself has never been able to derail God's plan of salvation, and Christmas is a great reminder of that.

And God's grace is available right here, right now, even if you've spent years rejecting it. You know, in the last week of December, December 20th of 1879, Thomas Edison privately had some friends in his Menlo Park labs, and he showed something called the incandescent light. He turned on something that would revolutionize the world. He had invented 1879, the light bulb, and didn't know how it would play out, so there was a private demonstration of it. One year later, December 20th, one year to the day, 1880, December 20th, New York's Broadway, a switch was flipped, and it was lit up. And it was forever called the Great White Way, because at night all these hundreds of lights made it as bright as daylight. Now, from the invention of the light bulb to cities being lit up. By the way, in a town called Sunbury, Pennsylvania, the first hotel was electrified, and I've actually been there. And overnight the world discovered light in darkness. That's how fast that spread.

Hey, do you know what? Jesus was born, and like Isaiah says, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. He rose, the Spirit of God was given, Pentecost happened, the church was birthed, and that light of the world shines to a dark, lost, sinful world even to this day. Hey, make Christmas something you celebrate, and make the light of Jesus something that you show and speak of and shine to a world.

Because Christmas reminds us that God is in control, God is wise, God is powerful, God is merciful, God is loving, and Christmas, one more great example of the story of God revealing Himself to the human race, and yes, offering Himself to you. That's P. O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. Call us at 877-YES-GOD-1.

That's 877-YES-GOD and the number 1. Or give online at AlexMcFarland.com. While you're there, listen to Program Archives, read Alex's blog, invite Alex to speak at your event, or contact Alex with a question or comment. Thanks for listening today, and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG Radio.