God's Entry into History -- 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.

Isaiah chapter 9 verse 2 says, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Welcome to Truth for a New Generation. Alex McFarland here, and I greet you at this Christmas time. If you're hearing this program, Christmas is getting very near. And you know, it's interesting how the arrival of Jesus, we find it in the pages of the New Testament, the four Gospels tell the birth and life of Jesus. But so much of the Christmas story does come from the pages of the Old Testament.

And when we do this program today, I want to talk about some facts related to God's entry into human history, Christmas. Now, as 2020 winds down, this has been, for a lot of people, a rough year. And maybe 2020 has been hard on you. I know people are struggling economically. People are struggling emotionally. One of the things that we're noticing in so much of the correspondence we're getting from you, dear listeners, people are saying, pray for us. Can't see our loved ones.

Got parents in a nursing home and were not able to go visit. A lot of people I know that have had friends or loved ones, you know, in surgery, and they couldn't go and pray at their bedside before they're wheeled into the operating room. Look, it's been a tough year, but you know, the good news is Christmas is a reminder that God is in control. Christmas is a reminder that God loves us. Christmas is a reminder that God is able. I mean, you think about all that the Lord accomplished through Jesus and through the coming of Christ. I am sure that the devil thought he had God and the human race in checkmate.

God is holy. Man is fallen. God doesn't let sin get swept under the rug. Man is therefore irrevocably lost. And yet the prince of darkness was defeated by a baby in a manger in Bethlehem.

A baby was born and an infant would be laid in a manger. And the Bible tells us so many things. We're going to get to it.

But Jesus came into the world to be victorious over death, to pay for sin, to rescue humanity, and to destroy the works of Satan, according to 1 John. And so we're going to talk about this, the facts about God's entry into human history. You know, recently I was asked, you know, did this really happen? Did this really happen?

And I want to say an absolute, unequivocal yes, it happened. I was on the radio yesterday, and it was my privilege to interview my friend, Jay Warner Wallace. Now, you've seen Jay Warner Wallace on Dateline, and he's on with Keith Morrison. He's the number one most frequently re-invited guest on Dateline with Keith Morrison, because Jim Wallace was for many years a Los Angeles cold case detective. He solved the crimes that nobody else could solve, and he would crack those cases in unsolved murders. And I love this guy, and he was an atheist for much of his adult life, but he became a born-again Christian. He's written a number of books, probably most well-known is called Cold Case Christianity. And Jim Wallace was with me on the radio yesterday, and he said, you know, if you look at the life of Jesus like you would look at any other historical event, the evidence is compelling.

Eyewitness account, multiple eyewitnesses, even hostile eyewitnesses that document exactly what we read in the Bible about Jesus, his prophesied coming, miraculous life, miraculous deeds, crucified at Passover, raised from the dead, validating what he taught, vindicating who he was, confirming that he is indeed the Savior. Now, think about this, because I know, you know, we live in a time of skepticism. There was an article that was posted the third week of December National Review, Why American Children No Longer Believe in God.

Now, why do you think that is? In 1981, Carl Sagan, the physicist who was an agnostic at best and pretty much an atheist, Carl Sagan once said, if there is a God, it's nature. It's the earth and the physical laws. If there is a God, it's the creation. Sadly, he didn't know the true and living God. But Carl Sagan, 1981, as he had that famous miniseries on NPR, Cosmos, and he talked about billions upon billions of stars. But Carl Sagan said, modern science has eroded belief in God and really eliminated the need for God.

False. And I was talking two weeks ago with Gary Habermas, the world expert on the resurrection. Now, listen to this. And the reason I share this is because perhaps over Christmas, you have a chance to talk to somebody about Jesus. Maybe you're going to see a family member or friend and you can talk about the gospel. Gary Habermas, PhD, Michigan State, brilliant scholar, he told me that after 40 plus years of research, he's working on his three volume magnum opus on ancient evidence for the life of Jesus. Now you tell me if this seems historically credible. How many pages of evidence for Jesus, Jewish, Greek, Roman sources that validate that Jesus lived, he was born, he came, he did the miracles, he taught the words of God, crucified at Passover, rose again.

Christ of Christmas is really the Savior and historically this happened. How much evidence do we have? Habermas alone is publishing 5800 pages of ancient evidence for the life of Christ.

Now I've had a number of atheists who said to me, well, you know, Jesus didn't exist or it wasn't really real and the New Testament is not trustworthy. Now I believe it is and much like Habermas, I've spent the last two and a half decades writing and by God's grace, 18 books and hundreds of articles in 50 states, five continents and two and a half week trip to the Holy Land to visit the sites. Folks, I'm telling you, this is real.

This is real. Hey, fables and fairy tales don't yield 5800 pages of evidence. Someone that's a myth or a legend or nonexistent wouldn't yield nearly 6000 pages of confirming evidence and that's only one scholar and I could name so many more. So folks, when Charles Wesley wrote Veiled in Flesh, the Godhead Sea, hail the incarnate deity, this is reality. Do you know him?

This Christmas at a time when we exchange gifts, have you given God the greatest thing you could ever do, the right thing, the best thing you could ever do for your own welfare is to give your heart to Jesus Christ. On this edition of Truth for New Generation, we encourage you to do that and we'll be back with more about Jesus Christ right after this. Alex has written many books to help you defend your faith. One of them answers questions from skeptics.

It's cleverly titled 10 Answers for Skeptics. Today's skeptics are looking for authenticity, integrity and straightforward truth. And in the book, Alex McFarland identifies the 10 most common types of skepticism that plague doubters' minds and offers believers proven strategies for connecting intellectually and spiritually with those who are skeptical about the claims of Christianity. Learn how to answer intimidating questions, identify the root issue behind those questions and dismantle the spiritual bombshells dropped by atheists.

Plus find encouragement to face hostility by persevering in love. The ultimate apologetic Christians can offer as a witness to our loving God. Check out 10 Answers for Skeptics when you visit alexmcfarland.com. 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. Why do bad things happen? 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.

Did Jesus ever sin? 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. For apologetics resources, books by Alex McFarland, and to find out where Alex is speaking, visit alexmcfarland.com. Welcome back to the program, Alex McFarland.

So glad you're here. And we're talking about God's entry into human history, Christmas. I want to give you several facts to think about.

Number one, it was compassionately planned. Isaiah 28 is just a fascinating passage. Isaiah was written about 750 years before the birth of Christ. And the Lord had spoken to the people of Israel and said, look, because they arrogantly said, God's judgment will never touch us, the overflowing scourge will pass through, it will not come for us. In other words, we can live and we will escape the scrutiny of God, the judgment of God. Well, God warned Israel in Isaiah 28, 14-15, that you have made lies your refuge and hidden yourselves under falsehood, scornful men. And God said, listen, if you think sin is not serious, if you think that you can save yourselves, if you think there is no God, or if it turns out there is, you can somehow talk your way out of accountability with God.

Now, this is relevant for our days, folks. God says, look, you have made a covenant with death and you are in agreement with the grave. And Jesus came, it was compassionately planned. Folks, we needed a Savior. Now, all the way through the Old Testament, there are many clues God seemed to sprinkle throughout his scriptures of the Old Testament, compassionately planned. And all the way back in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve had sinned.

They fell. And because of their sin, we're all in need of a Savior because we are the children of Adam and Eve. And their unrighteousness was imparted on the entire human race. And in Genesis 3, 15, it's called the protoevangelium, the first gospel. God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. Isn't that something? Okay, the serpent, the old devil, the book of Revelation calls him that old serpent and that dragon, Satan.

Well, his head is going to get crushed. And that happened on the cross. Jesus came and 1 John 3 and 4 says that Jesus was manifest to destroy the works of the devil.

Okay, that promise. And it's interesting that even in the first book of the Bible, the virgin birth is alluded to. Genesis 3, the seed of the woman, not the seed of the man, which is what normally might have been referenced, but the seed of the woman.

Isaiah 7, 14 says that a virgin will conceive and bear a child. This will be a sign to the whole house of Israel. And his name will be what? Immanuel, meaning God with us.

Isaiah 9, verse 1 through 7, in Galilee of the nations, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. Verse 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Verse 7 says of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.

Now, 2 Samuel 7 says that his throne and his kingdom would be established forever. I want to say right now, this moment, as 2020 draws to a close, as we've seen illness, we've seen COVID, we've seen riots, we've seen political upheaval, we've seen the beginnings again of the rise of ISIS and terrorism, we've seen corruption in the lives of people. And let me say, the Black Lives Matter website said that we are in the post-family era, heaven forbid. Look at this, folks. You need to understand, Jesus is still on the throne. Very often, I think the human race is like a room full of kindergartners wreaking havoc, pulling hair, spilling Kool-Aid on the carpet, throwing things.

Now, the teacher's standing in the doorway any minute about to call the room to order. And you might think the world is so chaotic, even God himself could not reign in the chaos. False. The government. One of the things about Jesus is that of the increase of his government, that means structure, order, justice, morality, truth. We're living really in a time of an ungoverned era of world history. I think about the rise of the LGBT worldview. And now, just as the U.S. Supreme Court has failed the American people, failed the vision of the founders because they built this country on moral truth, it's called natural law, objective ethics and morality, and the Supreme Court for 40 years plus has adjudicated decisions that are not based on unchanging moral truth but have been based on fluctuating, fluid, relativistic human trends rather than objective divine truth.

But I want to say this. The government of God is still in force. The jurisdiction of Jesus is still in place.

He's coming back one day, and he wants you to be ready. And you can be ready through a born-again relationship with Jesus. The Bible says in Jeremiah 31 that Jesus came to make a new covenant with people. There was the old covenant with Israel. Hey, keep these ordinances and these sacrifices. Trust me, one day the Messiah is coming. But the new covenant is that God will take away our heart of stone, our deadness, will give us a living heart, a heart of flesh. John chapter 3, Jesus presented this new covenant to Nicodemus and said, you can be and you must be born again, born from above.

Now, let me just parenthetically insert this about the compassionate planning of Christmas. This is for all people. Everyone can be saved, must be saved, and the way you are saved is through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Is this for Jewish people as well as Gentiles?

Absolutely. Now, remember the new covenant, Jeremiah 31 31, the new covenant was originally with the house of Judah. That's why Romans 1 16, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek. That's salvation to the Jew first. And then it says in Matthew 26 28, Jesus taught that his blood was shed for the remission of sins, the blood of the new covenant, and Hebrews 13 20 says it was the everlasting covenant. In other words, it is forever, and it's it's for all people to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, what a beautiful thing that this was God's compassion for a lost world.

I mean, think about it. God was the offended party. We sinned against God, and yet in love, he sent his own son that we could be saved. Stay tuned. We're going to come back after this brief break, and we're going to continue more at our look at the facts regarding God's entry into human history, i.e. Christmas.

Don't go away. 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. America today is like a patient struggling to live, yet is being forcibly euthanized by her quote doctors. The life force within the patient fighting for survival is the honest citizens like yourself.

The team of quote caregivers are the local and national leaders actually contributing to the demise of the patient. The economy is crashing. Crime is exploding. The Constitution is being abolished. The assault on America, how to defend our nation before it's too late by Alex McFarland has one single purpose, to get you prepared. Learn the real source of America's current problems that no one else is talking about and what you can do now to face tomorrow, regardless of what tomorrow brings. The assault on America, how to defend our nation before it's too late, available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and local Christian bookstores. 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 the program. We're talking about Christmas, and we do wish you a very merry Christmas. We thank you all for listening and for your encouragement. You know, we get a lot of emails throughout the year. You can email me, Alex, at alexmcfarland.com.

It will come right to me, and we'll do our best to answer in a timely way. Alex at alexmcfarland.com. I'm also on Facebook, REV, Alex McFarland. That's R-E-V, REV, Alex McFarland, and, of course, daily on the American Family Radio Network.

And I do want to say that I would love to see you next June at the Cove, June 25 through 27. I'll be teaching through the Book of Acts. The seminar is spiritual awakening and revival from the Book of Acts, the principles of revival. Can we have a revival in our times?

And if we could have a great move of God's Holy Spirit, how might we go about praying for that and seeking that? And so I would love to see you. Please register.

The Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, thecove.org is their website. You will be refreshed through your time there, and we look forward to studying the Book of Acts together. Well, let's talk more about Christmas. It's compassionately planned. It was beautifully structured. The manger, the star, the wise man. I mean, these things are so precious.

These are incredible images and memories that we cherish. Hadrian was a historian writing about 120 to 125 AD, and he said that the location was, quote, a certain cave in Bethlehem, the location of which had been long known, end of quote. Now, if you go to Bethlehem today, the Church of the Nativity, I believe it was Constantine's mother that had a church built there, but they marked it. They took note of this.

I mean, you think about it. If Jesus was crucified around 30 AD, but for a century, 90 to 100 years, they had taken note of the place where Jesus had been born. Now, early authors, Jerome and another one, Paulinus, had said that the site of Jesus' birth was marked or known. And in Luke 2, 7-12, you know, she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, laid him in a manger, for there was no room in the inn. What a beautiful picture of the bread of life being born in the town called House of Bread, and laid in a manger. When I was a little boy going to Buffalo Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, I remember one Christmas, and I don't know, I was five, six years old, I was just so, so captivated by the lyrics of the song, Away in a Manger, no crib for his bed.

And that's what happened. God, from the palaces of heaven, came into this world to be born poor and in a manger, for you and for me. Numbers 24, 17 said that a star would come out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. Now, the star led the wise men to Jesus. In Matthew 2, 1-2, the wise men came, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews?

Matthew 2 said, We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. And a scepter, says Numbers 24, 17. Well, who holds a scepter?

A king holds a scepter. And, you know, I've got to give one more Old Testament reference to Jesus, how Christmas was beautifully structured. Do you remember in Isaiah 11, verse 1, Jeremiah 23, 5, Zechariah 3, 8, three times the Old Testament calls this coming Savior the branch.

Now, you think, What is that? The branch? Okay, Zechariah 3, 8, My servant the branch. Now, by Zechariah 9 and 11, you'll recall Palm Sunday. In Zechariah 13, how Jesus rode in, they took palm branches.

They said, Hosanna, king of the Jews. And ultimately, by Zechariah 13, when Christ returns at the end of the battle of Armageddon, they say, What are these wounds in your hands and your feet? Well, the branch, Jesus later would call himself the true vine.

Isn't that something? And so God took his arm and reached down to humanity through Jesus to be our Savior. And if you are connected to Jesus, you are connected to the true vine, the vine of life. The tree of life was sequestered away from Adam and Eve after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so they wouldn't live forever in some horrible, unredeemable state. And one day, the Bible says that we will eat from the tree of life, and in heaven, one day, the leaves of the trees will be for the healing of the nations. But right now, you can connect today to the tree of life, Jesus. My friend, Stuart Epperson, wrote a great book called The Words of Life from the Tree of Death. Jesus was nailed to a cross, really, a tree of death. But he is the vine, the branch, the Lord of life. And in Christ, you are saved and you have eternal life.

Well, how beautifully structured it was. And all of these things that the Old Testament promises, he'd be born in Bethlehem. He would flee to Egypt, and that was a reference to the fact that they would, in Matthew 2, 13 and 14, they would go to Egypt. Tradition says they went to the city of Heliopolis in Egypt.

Well, who was from Heliopolis? Joseph in Genesis 41, 45. Joseph, who was a picture of Christ in the Old Testament. Remember Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers, and he was sold for 20 pieces of silver in his day. Jesus was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver in his day. Joseph had dwelt in Heliopolis. Well, when Mary and Joseph fled from Herod, they went, history says, to Heliopolis.

Beautiful structure. And he would be in Nazarene, and he would be in Galilee, Luke 2, 39. That was prophesied by Isaiah 9, 1, and 2. Amazing, careful, meticulous structure of all the prophecies being fulfilled, carefully accomplished. And it says in Galatians 4, 4, in the fullness of time, God did all this. Well, it was meticulously cast from the wise men to the shepherds to the angels to the Savior to you. Hebrews 10, verse 5, sacrifice and offering would not do the job, but a body you have prepared for me. God sent forth his Son to be your Savior. And he's as close by as a prayer to grow in Christ, to live for Christ, to represent Christ. And one day, we will see Christ.

And that's one of the great promises of Christmas. I want to thank you for listening. Again, you can go to my website, alexmcfarland.com. We'd love to hear from you. If we can help you in any way, please don't hesitate to ask. With all of our heart, I want to thank you for your prayers, your interest in what we're doing. I want to encourage you to share the faith with somebody, be a witness for Jesus. And with all of our heart, we want to say that we love you. We give God the praise for all that he's doing.

And we say, Merry Christmas. TNG radio is made possible by the friends of Alex McFarland Ministries, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. 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. alexmcfarland.com. Thanks for listening today and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG radio.