The Christ of Christmas
Posted by: biblenotes <biblenotes@...>
From: Martin Overfield
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2000
The Christ of Christmas
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
(Isaiah 9:6).
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise:
"When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
"Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her
a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
"But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.'
"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the
Lord by the prophet, saying, 'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and
shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel', which
being interpreted is, God with us.
"Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had
bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had
brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS."
(Matthew 1:18-25)
I. THE PROMISE OF THE MESSIAH -- Though there are a great
number of Old Testament prophecies, all of which point to Jesus of Nazareth
as the Messiah, I here present three. The latter two are reiterated and
emphasized in the New Testament.
A. The Seed of the Woman - "I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)
Here we see promised that the seed of the woman would be used of
God to bring the defeat of the serpent, who had tempted the first woman
to become a part of the very first transgression of the human race. Notice
especially that God said, "Thou shalt bruise HIS heel". This is the
earliest
reference to the fact that the Messiah would be made of a woman without
a man (born of a virgin).
B. The Seed of Abraham - "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Genesis 22:18)
"And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through
faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all
nations be blessed. ... Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises
made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy
seed, which is Christ." (Galatians 3:8, 16)
C. The Seed of David - "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered,
neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David
my servant..." (Jeremiah 33:22) "Hath not the scripture said, That Christ
cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where
David was?" (John 7:32)
It was promised that of David's seed there would not fail one to sit
upon his throne - "The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn
from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne." (Psalm
132.11)
II. THE PIETY OF MARY AND JOSEPH -- two godly individuals into
whose care the God of Heaven committed His only begotten Son (the only
one of His kind).
A. Mary, a virgin -- "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?"
(Luke 1:34)
B. Joseph, a proper gentleman -- Though he reasonably assumed
unfaithfulness on Mary's part, he was willing to spare her as much of the
embarrassment and consequences as he could.
C. Neither of the two had to compromise their principles in order to
see the will of God accomplished. This brings us to a most necessary final
point.
III. THE POWER OF GOD -- God worked a great miracle. Let us
consider this miracle in light of the three types of Messianic promises
listed
above (under first main point).
A. The Seed of the Woman
The Holy Spirit caused the very Son of God to be formed as a fully human
baby within Mary's womb. It is by the result of this miracle that "He also
himself likewise took part of the same;" (of flesh and blood) "that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;"
(Hebrews 2:14). Hence we see that Christ is our Champion over the devil.
He bruised the head of Satan, the old serpent.
B. The Seed of Abraham
The promise had to do with the blessing of all nations through Abraham's
seed. This speaks of our great Savior and His wonderful salvation. It is a
salvation that reaches to "whosoever believeth in him". Any and all people
of all nations may be set free from their sins through the seed of
Abraham -- the Second Adam.
C. The Seed of David
Finally, we notice that the promise to David fulfilled in Christ, is
that THERE WILL BE A KING TO SIT UPON HIS THRONE
FOREVER! This speaks of the everlasting kingdom of Christ.
Not only may we enjoy such a great salvation in this life, but we may
also "dwell in the house of the Lord forever". (Psalm 23:6)
The Babe of Bethlehem is the "Bright and Morning Star" (Revelation
22:16). The Child in the manger is the "Captain of" our "salvation"
(Hebrews 2:10). The Son of Mary is the very Son of God. The man called
Jesus is "God with us".
Let us sing the old and true carol:
"Veiled in flesh the God-head see;
Hail th'incarnate Deity.
Pleased as man with men to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel!
Hark, the herald angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King!'"
Yours In Christ,
Martin Overfield
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