R521 What Makes Christmas So Wonderful, Anyway?

We all could use some encouragement, and we'll find it together today in the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton on the encouraging words. Today Dr. Wilton continues in this season of Christmas messages.

This one, what makes Christmas so wonderful anyway? We'll talk about that, dive into God's Word, Matthew chapter 1 in just a moment. But I pray that you would know that we're ready to dive into a relationship with you. We want to be a part of encouraging you on a daily basis. For me, it starts with a daily encouraging word email from Dr. Don every morning. You can sign up on our website at www.tewonline.org.

Or you'd rather, like my bride, have a physical copy? Call us. It's free for the asking at 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. Ask for the daily encouraging word Bible guide. Now today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. I want you to take your Bibles this morning. Everyone take a copy of God's Word and turn with me in Matthew's Gospel and chapter 1. Matthew's Gospel, chapter 1. Wonderful passage of Scripture, Matthew chapter 1.

I'm going to read from verse 18 of Matthew chapter 1 this morning. The Bible says this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child because of the Holy Spirit. Now because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. Now all this took place in order to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us. Now when Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son and he gave him the name Jesus.

I want to speak to you for a few moments on this question. What is so wonderful about Christmas anyway? What makes Christmas so wonderful? You know, all over the world and almost every part of the world, people celebrating Christmas.

Can you just imagine all the things that were going on? And we sing a song that goes like this, it's the most wonderful time of the year. What is it that makes Christmas so wonderful?

Let me give you a couple of things to think about. Number one, Christmas is wonderful because I am known and understood. People today all over the world are trying to find personal understanding. I think there's been a mad scramble everywhere all through the century for people to be known and to be understood. I've met people who have said to me from time to time, Pastor, the greatest difficulty I have in life is that people don't understand me. Well, let's go and turn over to John's Gospel. Turn with me to John chapter 1.

I want to show you something very, very special. John chapter 1 and verse 1, turn with me in your Bibles. Great to hear all those Bible pages turning in God's house. John chapter 1, listen to what the Bible says. The Bible says that in the beginning was the Word. Now who's the Word? The Word is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Now listen to this. Through Him all things were made.

How many things? All things were made. And without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life and that life was the light of man and that light shines in darkness and the darkness didn't understand it. Now go to verse 14 and see how this all took place. John chapter 1 and verse 14. The Bible says that the Word, Jesus Christ, became flesh.

Now folks look with me just for a moment. Quickly, we've got a manger over here. What does this manger represent? It's not just the baby Jesus. It's the fact that the Word became flesh. Now listen to what happened in verse 14. The Word became flesh and He made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory as of the one and only, the one who came from the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Now what does that mean? It means that God, who is so incredibly big, became so incredibly small that He was willing to be born as a baby in Bethlehem's manger.

Now watch this for a moment here folks. One of the greatest strivings of mankind is our desire to be known and to be understood. Oh, if only God could understand what I'm going through. Oh, I tell you, I just feel so lonely in the world. I don't know what I'm going to do in the 21st century.

I don't know how I'm going to cope with life. I want you to think for just a minute of how big God is. The Bible says that God created everything. In verse 3 of John chapter 1, through Him all things were made and there wasn't a single thing that was made outside of God. God was in the beginning and God is the Creator of the universe. He owns everything, He created everything, He made everything, He knows everything, and He understands everything.

Now watch this folks. If God is so big, if God is so big, is there anything so big that God cannot deal with it? I wonder if there's someone here this morning worshipping God and saying, Pastor, I have so many things, they are so big, I just have so many problems, I have so many needs, I have so many decisions, it's just too big, I don't know whether I'm ever going to be able to cope with it.

When we think of Christmas, I want to tell you why Christmas is so wonderful, is because this God who is so big came down to this earth and there is not a single bigness of anything that God cannot handle, amen? But then think of how small God is. Can you imagine that a God who is so big would have become so small that He would have allowed Himself to be encapsulated in the body of a tiny little precious little baby boy? Can you just imagine those little fingers? Can you just imagine those little toes?

Can you just imagine a little baby born like that? The Bible says that the Word became flesh and as a result of the fact that He became flesh, we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, the only one of a kind, the only one who had the complete authority of God to tend to every matter pertaining to every need of human existence. God is not only so big, but He became so small.

So, let me ask you a question. I wonder if there's anyone here today worshipping the Lord who would say, but Pastor, my needs that I have are so small that God surely wouldn't be interested in that. Maybe there's something deep down in your heart and it's really, it's not a big deal. It's small. Maybe, maybe you're saying to yourself, nobody else is concerned about me. What's so special about Christmas anyway?

You know what it is? It's that I am known and understood because God is so big, there's nothing that He cannot handle and yet He became so small that He demonstrated to us that even the very goggling and babbling of a little tiny incoherent baby is vitally important to Him. He knows me and He understands me. Why is Christmas, what makes it so special? Number two, it's so special because I can be forgiven.

I can be forgiven. What makes Christmas so wonderful anyway? What is this about the baby Jesus? It means that I can be forgiven.

That's what's so wonderful about it. Listen to what Jesus said Himself. Listen, He says in Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21, you are to give Him the name Jesus because He will save people from their sins. In Romans chapter 4, the apostle Paul talks about it in verses 6 through 8. He talks about the forgiveness of sin. He says, therefore, we are justified through Jesus Christ. That means it is just as if we had never sinned. It means that because Jesus was born in Bethlehem's manger, that God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to Himself. That means that because of Jesus being born on Christmas Day, it means that even though I've been separated from God through my sin, that I now am able to be reconciled once again to Him because Jesus Christ is the one who forgives me for my sin.

Wow, wow, wow! Well, what makes Christmas so wonderful anyway? What's all this about? It means I'm known and understood. It means I can be forgiven, but it also means in the third place that I can have peace.

I like that. Luke chapter 2 and verse 14, the angels glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests and by the way, when the angels spoke about the favor of God, they were talking about the dispensation of the grace of God. Listen to what the Bible says. The Bible says that when Jesus Christ came down to the earth and He became man for us, He became sin for us, that through His life and death and resurrection upon the cross, that the grace of God comes to rest upon me. It means that I have the capability of receiving God's peace into my heart.

What a wonderful thing. Now friends, there are two areas of peace that are ruptured and interrupted by the presence of sin. Number one is my peace with God. Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. In fact, the Psalmist puts it like this. He says, I was conceived in sin. Think of how important that is for the baby Jesus. That is why Jesus understands man. He is the God-man. It is a complete understanding. It is not a partial understanding.

It is a 100% identification. Everything that Jesus did as the God-man brought Him in full accord with a complete identification with the predicament of man because man is conceived in sin. He is born in sin, and as a consequence of the sin of Adam, his relationship with God is interrupted. It is blocked.

It is impeded. It cannot take place, but because of the manger and because of Christmas, I can have peace with God. I can be reconciled to God. But you know, I'm not only going to have peace with God, as Paul says in his letter to the Romans, that I can have peace with God. I can have peace with my fellow man. It works not only upwards.

It works sideways. It works both with God in heaven and it works with one another upon this earth. Friend, if there is one thing that we pray for time without number, it is peace. They are meeting peace talks between Israel and the Arab countries. There are peace efforts going on everywhere from Camp David to Kosovo in the Balkan states. There are people striving for inner peace in their marriages, people saying, I don't want to fight with my wife or my husband anymore. I don't want to have conflict anymore. I want to live in peace and harmony. And God says, listen, I want you to just look to the Christ of Christmas. My peace I bring to you.

Wow! Well, what makes Christmas so wonderful anyway? I'm known and understood. I can be forgiven. I can have peace with God. I can have peace with my fellow man. I can live in harmony. I had someone come to me some months ago and say to me, Pastor, I don't want you to talk all the time about the peace and the harmony and the unity at First Baptist Church. And I love this lady.

And I still love her. And we talked together. And I said to my dear friend, I cannot stop talking about the peace and the harmony and the joy in the body of Christ. Why?

Because it is the heartbeat. It is the desire of God that we live in peace with God and we be at peace with one another and our fellow man. Amen? What a wonderful thing to think about. Please forgive the interruption, but oh my goodness, isn't that wonderful? Right now, there is a lot of strife in our world.

Peace is something that Jesus came to this earth to establish. And it starts with a personal relationship with him. If you'd like to talk to someone about that, right here in the middle of the program, we're still available 24-7. As a matter of fact, if you have questions, let's discover those answers in God's Word together at 866-899-WORD. If you haven't done so, jot that number down or store it in your cell. Let us be a contact, 866-899-WORD. 866-899-9673 is available 24 hours a day for us to connect with you and maybe connect you with resources that will help you grow. If you'd like to visit us online, tewonline.org is our website.

A lot of great resources there, tewonline.org. We'd love to meet you keyboard to keyboard there right now. Let's dive back into this remarkable message, What Makes Christmas So Wonderful Anyway, with Dr. Don Wilton. But third, I fourth, I can have meaning. I can have meaning.

That's what Christmas means to me. You consider man's meaning, search for meaning, commerce and industry. It hasn't given man meaning. Money, materialism, hasn't brought meaning. Free love from the hippie movement in the 60's. It hasn't given man meaning and purpose. Sensationalism, human rights, hasn't given man meaning. Equal opportunities for equal people.

Listen, equal pay for equal work. Paul put it like this. He said in Romans 8 and verse 28, We know that all things are working together for the good of those that love God and to those who are the called according to His purpose in Christ Jesus. What is he saying?

He's saying that because of Christ of Christmas. It doesn't matter what, it doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter how, and it doesn't matter why. God gives me meaning. Folks, I would pray for you. I would pray that in the 21st century that God would bless you. I pray that He would prosper you materially. I pray that He would prosper you in your families and your loved ones. I pray that He would prosper you in your marriage. I'm praying for you in your marriage, my friend, that God would give you a new meaning. I pray that God would bring you and give you a new love in your marriage and in your relationship.

I pray that God would prosper you in your work and in your circumstances. I pray that God would just pour Himself out all over you, but I'll guarantee you that outside of the Christ of Christmas you still will not have meaning in your life. What does the Christ of Christmas bring? He brings me meaning. I can have meaning. It means I'm known and understood. It means I can be forgiven of my sin which has separated me from God. It means that I can have peace in my heart. All that turmoil and tumult is gone and all that anger and that hostility, all that searching is gone. It means that I can have meaning in life, but it also means that I can have hope.

I can have real hope. Listen to what the Bible says in Luke chapter 2 and verse 30. In our earlier service today we dedicated Jacob canon to the Lord, precious little boy.

You go back and read about it in Scripture, how that Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to Simeon in the temple in Luke chapter 2 and when Simeon took the baby Jesus and he dedicated Him back to God and he dedicated and he thanked God for this incredible gift. Listen to what he said. He said, my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. What was he saying here? He's saying, listen, that the Christ of Christmas gives me hope. Well, where does He give me hope?

He gives me hope while I'm still alive. You know, most people say, well, listen, quite frankly, I'm looking forward to dying. Now, folks, I don't know when I'm going to die, do you? I don't know. I've got the capacity to live until about 2040 or 2050.

Now, I'm going to be an old bocce and if I'm still preaching, you're going to have to help me up into the pulpit and that's just fine with me. But I don't know. I don't know how long I'm going to live, folks.

I don't know. But I'll tell you something. While I'm waiting to die to go with Jesus Christ, I've got hope while I'm still alive.

Why? Because Jesus put it like this in John 10. He said, I've come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. I like that. That makes me want to start preaching this morning. I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.

Jesus Christ gives me hope while I'm still alive. It means that I can face tomorrow with confidence, doesn't it? It means that even though I look into the 21st century and I shake my head and I say, well, I don't know how I'm going to handle this. Maybe your marriage is on the rocks. Maybe you're struggling. Maybe financially you're going nowhere. Maybe you're going around in circles. Maybe you've got everything, but in your heart you've got nothing.

Maybe you're wondering about your circumstance. Jesus Christ says, listen, look to the Christ of Christmas. What is so wonderful about Christmas anyway? You can have hope while you're still alive, but watch this. You can also have hope when you die.

You can have hope when you die. The Bible says this. Listen, Jesus said these words in John 11 and verse 25. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies. What a contradiction.

He who believes in me will live even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Amen? Folks, let's give God a hand this morning. Come on now. Come on.

Come on. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing?

Isn't that amazing? Just think about it. Give God a hand this morning. Come on. Come on.

Let's say thank you to the Lord. Come on now. Let's give God a hand this morning. Let's give God a hand this morning. Come on now.

Come on now. Just think about it. Just think about what God has done in Christ Jesus. Just think about this Christmas. Just think about what God has done.

Just think about it. Isn't it just amazing? Isn't it just amazing to think that God was in Christ Jesus, reconciling the world unto himself. So what is so wonderful about Christmas anyway? Isn't it just amazing?

Isn't it just amazing? Folks, I have stood and applauded so many things. Boy, it's time to just thank the Lord, just think about the gift that God gave to us in Jesus Christ.

What makes Christmas so special? It means that I'm known and I can be fully understood. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm understood or known. It means that I can be forgiven.

Wow. It means that I can have peace. It means that I can have meaning and purpose in life. It means that I can have hope.

I can have hope while I live. I can have hope when I die, Jesus said. You know that passage in John chapter 11? The last thing that Jesus said, he said, I am the resurrection and the life. He says, listen, you're going to live even though you die. And then he ends off by saying this. He looks at us and he says, do you believe this? Do you believe this? How about you today?

That's the question. How about you today? Has the Lord stirred your heart to some questions that you need help answering? We have friends that are taking your calls right now with a Bible in hand, literally, happy to talk with you, pray with you at 866-899-WORD. That's 866-899-9673. Or we can connect online as well on our website, keyboard to keyboard at TEWOnline.org.

That's TEWOnline.org. I pray that you'd know that we're available for you, not just now during the broadcast, but 24 hours a day, happy to talk or listen or pray or connect you with resources. But right now it may not be us you need to talk to.

It may be God. Would you open your heart to what Dr. Don wants to share next? Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ?

I'm so happy to hear that. Why don't you pray this prayer with me today? Dear God, I know that you love me very, very much. And I know that the Lord Jesus Christ came and died on a cross so that I might be forgiven of my sin. Today I repent of my sin.

I confess my sin to you. And I invite you to come into my heart and into my life by faith. In Jesus' name I pray. If you prayed that prayer, let me be the first one to welcome you to the family of God.

This is wonderful. I hope that you know how much I'm going to be praying for you and how very important this is for me. Call us so that we can talk to you and connect you in the right place so you can begin this wonderful journey. If you said that prayer along with Dr. Wilton, or if maybe just in your heart, you're as best you know how, saying, yes, Jesus, I want you to save me. Oh, how we'd love to walk with you in the next steps.

Maybe you're coming home to Christ, rededicating your life to Christ. We have resources for you. Why don't you give us a call? We'd love to put them in your hands at 866-899-WORD. Again, that number is 866-899-9673.

Or keyboard keyboard. Sometimes that's the way to connect. You can do that on our website as well. T-E-W online dot O-R-G. That's T-E-W online dot O-R-G. And there on our website you'll see a number of great resources, but one we're extremely excited about here in the month of December is the one called the Spirit of God.

Here's Liz with all the details. As you reflect upon your life this season, think about your friends and family members outside of Christ or those who are drifting away from God. Could this be you? This Christmas, Dr. Wilton wants to encourage you to make a commitment to meet Jesus every day so you can learn more about him and be able to live a life of trust and not fear. With your gift of $30 and support to the encouraging word this month, you will receive the Spirit of God within you. A beautiful 52-week leather-bound devotional written by 52 trusted pastors and leaders, including Dr. Wilton. You will find blessings upon blessings as you read uplifting scripture verses, daily devotions, and prayers. Plus, you will receive psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, instrumental music CD by gifted pianist and Louisiana College President, Dr. Rick Brewer. Call us today at 866-899-WORD to request the new devotional and music CD. They will make great Christmas gifts of encouragement, too. Thank you for your continued partnership.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you from all of us here at The Encouraging Word. Our time's gone for today, but oh, what a great week of Bible study it has been. And I pray that as we lean into the weekend that you would be looking for opportunities to gather together in perhaps the church you've been in for all your life, or maybe you're just now saying you need to get back into church.

It could be different ways. It could be virtually. You could be visiting that electronically. But I pray that if your church is having some safe socially distanced opportunities to gather, Dr. Don would say, do not forsake the gathering together of believers.

Look for an opportunity. We'll also have some video versions of our worship services available. You can find those online at TEWOnline.org. We're extremely excited about Sunday afternoon. We have a television broadcast on the Daystar Network. Again, all the details, ways to watch and connect are on our website at TEWOnline.org.