Mysteries And Miracles Of Christmas - Part 1

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. In these two verses, he's going to be virgin born, he's going to be a son given from heaven, he is going to minister to the individual and the nation, he is mighty God, he's Lord of the ages, he will bring peace to individuals and to the whole world eventually, he will be born in Bethlehem and he exists in all eternity, and he will do all this bearing our guilt and sins and then die for us.

That's a lot of stuff. Like, I know he's unusual the way he's born, I know he's both a man and God, I know he was born of a virgin, and you're saying he's going to rule, how? How does he do these things?

What is he going to do? Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana.

Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. This past week I ran across this story that I found to be fascinating. It's a story about a man in Wales who sought to win the affection of a certain woman to marry him for 42 years. He sought her. For more than 40 years, this persistent rather shy man slipped a weekly love letter under his neighbor's door, but she continually refused to speak to him because they had had a little fight all those years before after he had written 2,184 love letters to her. He decided then that he'd have enough courage. He went over and presented himself in person at her door. He knocked on the door of the woman, and he asked her for her hand in marriage.

And to his delight and surprise, she accepted after 42 years. Now, I want you to think about that. What do you think about that? And it seems like a hard to understand or kind of weird story until you realize that that's exactly, in a sense, what happened to us and God. God sent love letters for hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of years to the people of Israel. And eventually, he showed up at their door.

But unlike the woman in Wales, they rejected him. I don't know if you've ever thought about it that way, but from Genesis to Malachi, you get a sense of what God's heart is for people. I want to start today just in Genesis chapter 3. Genesis 3 and the fall of man, just to show you one thing that happens early. Verse 15. And God is speaking to the serpent after the fall from Adam and Eve. And he says in verse 15, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.

And he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. This is the first prophecy in the Bible. The very first prophecy occurs in Genesis, and it's given by God. And basically, it's God's prophecy to say how God will solve man's fall. What is God's solution to man bringing sin into the world? Now, what's interesting about this is that he follows it up the seed of the woman there. He follows it up to the book of Malachi with 300 more prophecies. Three hundred prophecies about God's solution, the seed of the woman, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world. This is when God starts this whole relationship. So the first question I want to answer from the Old Testament today is, what kind of man is the seed of the woman?

And the reason I want to do this is for this reason. So much around the Christmas story for you and me has turned into something we don't think about very much. We're so used to it. We get Christmas cards with the verses on it, and then we read it and go, oh, yeah, that's nice. But I want us to think about it today from two points of view. One is the utter mystery and impossibility to truly understand the depth of what Christmas is, and two, the miracle. I think we need to look at it from a little bit different.

So what kind of man would this be? So I want to go to Isaiah chapter 7. Isaiah chapter 7. And it's probably the only verse or two you're familiar with in Isaiah 7, because you'll see it on Christmas cards.

And so you'll read it, and it makes a nice little story. And I want to look at verses 13 and 14. And it says there, in verse 13, then he said, listen now, O house of David, is it a slight thing for you to try the patience of men, that you're now going to try the patience of God as well? He said, well, I'm going to explain to you what God's going to do. This is Israel being, once again, ready for captivity in total rebelling against God. And he said, here's God's solution. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign.

Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel. Now, this is something I want to talk about just a minute. Let me ask you this question. Where do babies come from? OK, usually or always?

Always. Do you know any virgins that had babies? You see, this is an incredible thing when you think about it. This is, a virgin is going to have a baby. Now, we see this reinforced. The word for virgin, Alma, is a word that can mean young maiden. But the New Testament makes it abundantly clear. She said a virgin is going to bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel, which we'll come to later. God with us. She's going to bear a son, and she's going to call him God with us. Now, those of you who have children, and you were going to have a son or a daughter, how many of you said, I think what we'll call them is God with us? And I just want to mention, this is my little guy. He's God with us.

Now, no one names their child that part, Immanuel. That's what he's going to do. He's going to tell him God with us. Now, what's interesting about this, it's incredibly precise.

He's going to be a male. And don't forget, Isaiah is writing about 700 years before Christ is born. So just imagine someone writing about something that's going to happen today about 200 years before Columbus left Europe to discover America.

That's how long before it was written. We see it as just part of the Bible. Let's look at the kind of man he is, chapter 9 of Isaiah and verse 6. Here we get a little bit more information. Isaiah writes, for a child will be born to us. A son will be given to us.

Now, this gives you a little bit more information. Why do we call him Immanuel? A child is born, just like all children are born, but a son is given. So now we start getting this idea that this is the son of God. The son is not born. The son's eternal.

But he is going to be given to us. And he says, and the government will rest on his shoulders, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. So now he's wanting to describe this child, born of a virgin, and the son who was given to us.

And he says, look at these characteristics. One, he's going to be called Wonderful Counselor. Now, the idea behind that is not just for the messianic notion that he's coming to the nation Israel, but what he means to everyone individually. He's the Wonderful Counselor. He'll give Wonderful Counsel. He'll give the kind of wisdom only God can. Secondly, he's Mighty God.

That's his character. He will be called Mighty God. Now, please understand, if he were just a human baby, no one in Israel would view a child as Mighty God.

You're not going to do that. But he is. And the reason is that he's the son that is given. Then he's a characteristic of his, which is difficult for us often, is Eternal Father. And I think it's difficult because we know the Trinity. Why would the son be called the father?

But I think that misses the point. What he's talking about is the father of perpetuity. That's what he's talking about. He is the father of eternity. He is the Lord of the ages. That's what he means when he says Eternal Father. And he's the Prince of Peace.

So he makes these statements. God's letting them know how the seed of the woman is going to come and how unusual the seed of the woman will be. He'll be born of a virgin. We know that later because that means he will have no sin nature. He'll be sent by God the Father.

We know that. He will be called Mighty God. We start seeing something as a picture. The next question would be, where does he come from?

From our point of view. And so I want you to turn with me to Micah chapter 5. Now, Micah is a contemporary of Isaiah. So again, this is written 700 years before Jesus comes. And he's going to tell the nation Israel, where does the Messiah come from? So he says this in verse 2. He says, but as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah. Now, let me stop there. One of the problems we have understanding this context is you have your own notions about Bethlehem.

That sounds big to you. It's Bethlehem. We'll sing this year, O little town of Bethlehem. Bethlehem's a special place. It's Bethlehem, not to the Jews. When he said that, that's not special at all.

It's incredibly non-special. Bethlehem has one thing about it that the Jews had even noticed. Jesse lived there. And because Jesse lived in Bethlehem, he had a son named David. So it becomes the city of David. It is as nondescript as a place could be. It's not even in the same world as something like Jerusalem. The analogy I've used in the past maybe to help us understand is to the context of what has happened, Bethlehem would be like the Messiah of the Savior of the world being born in Manchac. He's going to be born in Manchac, Louisiana.

But that's the case. It's a nondescript place. Notice what Micah writes on. He says, but as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. You have no reputation in Judah at all.

You're just too little for that. He says, from you one will go forth from me to be the ruler in Israel, and his goings forth are from long ago from the days of eternity. Now I'll get more information. He's going to be born in Bethlehem, but notice again the same idea. He is going to be a ruler in Israel.

Okay, we've got a king like David going to be a ruler of Israel. But then he says his goings forth are from long ago from the days of eternity. He's eternal. He's an eternal being who happens to be going to be able to rule over Israel.

And he was born specifically in Bethlehem, and he was sent from heaven. You see, as each one of these things sort of play themselves out, theologically it's called the hypostasis, the union of the God-men. But this is such a mystery. If you understand it, you understand more than me, for sure, and let me know.

What is the hypostasis? Well, theologians say it is that Jesus Christ is 100% human and 100% God, and that's 200%. You understand that?

I don't. He's 200%. He's not half God and half man.

He's not like that. He's 100% God, and he's 100% man. It's a mystery.

It's the hypostasis. But notice how unique this is. This is all done by miracles of God. So what we learn in these two verses is he's going to be virgin born. He's going to be a son given from heaven. He is going to minister to the individual and the nation. He is mighty God. He's Lord of the ages. He will bring peace to individuals and to the whole world eventually. He will be born in Bethlehem, and he existed in all eternity, and he will do all this, bearing our guilt and sins, and then die for us. Wow.

That's a lot of stuff. But he's not done. Turn with me to Isaiah, back to Isaiah chapter 53. And here we see, what will he do? Like, I know he's unusual the way he's born. I know he's both a man and God. I know he was born of a virgin. And you're saying he's going to rule. How? How does he do these things?

What is he going to do? So, chapter 53 of Isaiah. Isaiah writes, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? And then he says this, for he grew up before him like a tender shoot, like a root out of ground, out of parched ground.

He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. Is that what you think of when you think of Jesus? Got an image of Jesus in your mind?

I'm guessing it's wrong. I think you're probably believing what a 15th century Renaissance painter thought who Jesus was like. Some emaciated guy who was real handsome with real long hair, often blonde, with blue eyes. Jesus didn't have anything. Jewish men don't have blue eyes.

No, he doesn't. In fact, notice how he's described. Can you imagine running home to your parents and talking about either a girl or a guy you met? And you said, I'm telling you, Mom and Dad, she looks like a root out of ground. I mean, it's amazing.

How many vacations have you taken and said, Look, we've got to stop by and see that tree because we want to see that root out of ground because it's so amazing. That's his description. He has no stately form or majesty that we would look upon him. His appearance, we're not attracted to him at all.

Now, who would we be attracted to? How does Lucifer look? He's handsome.

George Clooney, Brad Pitt type of guy. He's handsome. How is he on the inside?

He's dead man's bones. You see, the Son of God showing up in the person of Jesus Christ is exactly the opposite. He's below average looking on the outside, but inside, full of grace and truth. He's exactly the opposite.

That's what Isaiah tells us. Now, notice then how we respond to him. Verse 3, He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised and we did not esteem him. What did people think when they first saw him?

Not much. You remember the line, What good could come out of Nazareth? It wasn't like, Have you seen him?

No. It says he was despised, forsaken. Now, you'd wonder, after all these love letters that God sent over all that period of time, telling you the uniqueness of them, born of a virgin, sent from God, they couldn't wait to see him, but they didn't.

So here's what happens. Verse 4, Surely our griefs he himself bore and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

What's that mean? When they finally crucified him, they were glad they did. They thought he got exactly what he deserved from God and them.

Wow. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we were healed, because all of us, like lost sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him.

Now, when you and I read that, what do you think of? The cross, right? But when Isaiah wrote it, there wasn't any crucifixions.

He's just telling you what's going to happen. He had no idea. He didn't see the cross. He described it perfectly, but there were no crucifixions in his frame of mind. So now we know how he's going to do this.

He's going to die as a substitute. That's going to fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 3. So I guess the best way to look at it, what are the odds of this happening? We can't even estimate it.

A mathematician not that long ago decided with a computer to help him. He wanted to figure out what would the odds be of 60 prophecies concerning Christ coming to pass. 60. There's 300.

60. He said the odds of 60 prophecies coming to pass is one in one plus 157 zeros after it. Can you even think what that number would be? I mean, six zeros is a million. Nine, a billion.

One hundred and fifty-seven zeros after it. That's the odds. Now, what that at least should make us think is, what an event. What an amazing event this is.

How could this happen? You see, there's a mystery and a miracle to this. And what's amazing is, in spite of all these things, when he showed up like the man from Welles did and knocked on the door of the hearts of the people, they rejected him. Just like today, people reject him.

So here we are 2,000 years later. And how does the world deal with something so phenomenally supernatural and amazing as the birth of Christ? How do you deal with it?

I mean, it's been in Western culture, so how does the world deal with it? Well, how about Santa Claus? That's the way to deal with it. We'll just have Santa Claus. We'll try that, see how that works. And we'll decorate. Let's put up a lot of decorations.

That'd be good. Let's shop till we drop. Let's just shop.

And now we can shop online. I mean, come on, let's just do all the shopping. Let's have parties.

Let's get drunk. I mean, that's a great way to celebrate it, isn't it? No, we just substitute anything we can.

The event's too big to ignore, so we just make substitutions. Now, my prayer for all the people I know who only see it that way is sort of they become like the Grinch, who's one of the great Christmas characters, isn't he? And I remember the Grinch. You remember as it got on in the story and near the end, it said that the Grinch thought of something that he hadn't thought of before.

He said, what of Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What of Christmas perhaps means more. It does mean more. It means a lot. You see, the question comes down to, who is he? When you start thinking of a virgin giving birth, God sending his son, the hypostasis of Christ, the unique characteristics of him, this is an event of enormous mystery and miracle.

But we are so familiar with it, we don't really think about it very much. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called OnePlace.com. That's OnePlace.com and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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That's fbcnola.org. At our website you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .