[Passage]
[Matthew 1: 21-23]
“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.””
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
About 2,000 years ago, good news of great joy was delivered to a little town in Judah, Bethlehem. Luke 2:11 says, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Jesus was born in a very small and shabby place, in a stable.
The people of Israel neither recognized Him nor had any interest in Him. They thought the Messiah they were waiting for would come from a prominent and wealthy family, from among those who were highly esteemed.
And what would you have thought if you saw baby Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem, just like the shepherds and three magi 2,000 years ago? Would you have felt greatly blessed and touched thinking that the baby is the Son of God and the One who would perform powerful works and teach the truth, die on the cross and resurrect for us?
You came to church at this time to celebrate the birth of this Jesus. The title of today’s message is “Birth of the Lord”, and I will talk about the birth, ministry, the resurrection, and second coming of the Lord in this service, and again in the evening service. I pray this in the name of the Lord that, through the message, you will come to love our Lord Jesus Christ all the more.
[Main]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
For this Christmas, the first thing we should remember is the birth of Jesus.
As I already said, Jesus made tremendous sacrifices from the moment He came to this earth. Jesus is the Son of God. He was in the glorious light with God and ruled over all things in the universe. But, in God’s providence He was born in this world in human body to save the mankind who were destined to die due to their sins.
Philippians 2:6-8 says, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” God’s Son, who was in heaven, coming down to this earth and taking on a human body in itself is such a great sacrifice. And eventually, He went through the wretched sufferings of the cross and died in place of us.
Why did God send Jesus to this earth? It was His love for us and to take the responsibility for us, for we are His children. Let’s go back to the time of the first man, Adam. God the Father began human cultivation with great expectations. When He was creating the first man Adam with all His love, He was full of hope and expectations. He expected countless children to come forth who have sincere hearts and perfect faith. He hoped to share true love with them forever.
He walked with Adam for a long time and taught him about God, all things in the universe, rules in the spiritual realm, and about goodness and truth. But this Adam disobeyed God’s word and became a slave of sin. As Romans 6:16 says, “when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,” Adam obeyed Satan’s voice, thereby becoming a slave of sin, belonging to Satan and not to God.
According to the law of spiritual realm that says “wages of sin is death”, not only Adam, but also all mankind who are born with Adam’s sinful nature were destined to fall into hell. But God of love did not give up on mankind who could neither go before God due to their sins nor save themselves from their sins.
Isaiah 49:15 says, “Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.” In fact, God knew that Adam would disobey and hand over all his authority to the enemy devil and Satan. For this reason, He prepared the way of salvation before the ages so that the mankind who would become sinners would be forgiven and recover all the authority.
Matthew 1:21 says, “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” God prepared His son Jesus who was qualified to become the Savior according to the law of the spiritual realm and sent Him down to this earth when the time came.
Romans 5:19 says, “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” Just as all mankind became sinners due to the sin of Adam, many would be forgiven of their sins and be justified through the obedience of Jesus.
And Jesus didn’t have any sinful nature in Himself because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of Virgin Mary. Also, He kept the Law completely, and He did not commit any sins. He completed the way of salvation according to God’s will.
He led a poor life to redeem us from poverty. Through His sacrifice we were enabled to live a rich life in the Lord. He wore the thorns on His head, received flogging all over His body, and shed blood in order to redeem us from all diseases and infirmities. Finally, though He was innocent He received the punishment of death which was supposed to be given to sinners. By dying on the cross, He gave those of us who believe in Him an eternal life.
Therefore, the birth of the Lord is glory to God and blessing for all mankind. Hallelujah! Once again celebrating the birth of our Lord who came to this earth for us, let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has shown His great love for us through Jesus Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The second aspect we have to keep in mind for this Christmas is the ministry of Jesus.
When the time came Jesus began the work of God full-time. Before He took the cross He taught the people, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and He healed all sicknesses and infirmities. Mathew 4:23-24 says, “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. The news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains, demoniacs, epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.”
Jesus taught the souls the truth and He delivered God’s heart and will to them. He showed great power, which means He showed countless evidences that He is the Son of God. He also wanted the souls to know about the kingdom of heaven, which is an invisible spiritual realm.
That is why it is the Beatitudes that He first preached in His public ministry. What was the first blessing? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” It is the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. To mankind, that was like a fog that would soon disappear, Jesus taught about the eternal blessing, which is the kingdom of heaven. And for those who couldn’t feel heaven in their heart, He let them understand heaven better by giving the parables from things in their everyday lives such as a mustard seed, yeast, and treasure hidden in a field.
And whenever He had time, Jesus let them know clearly about the kingdom of heaven by preaching at the Temple, the synagogues, or on the hills or in the field. He didn’t just say, “Here is kingdom of heaven and you have to take hold of it.” He showed the evidence so that they could actually have faith. It was through the power of God as John 4:48 says, “So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.””
There are many witnesses in the Bible who experienced the power firsthand. Seeing Jesus walk on the sea, Peter showed his faith and he could also walk on the water. Though it was only for a short moment, he was able to experience the spiritual space.
The Virgin Mary witnessed the sign of Jesus changing the water into wine at the wedding banquet in Cana. The 12 disciples witnessed the miracles of feeding 5,000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fish, and 4,000 men with 7 loaves and 2 fish. They also saw Jesus calm the winds and the sea just with His words.
Peter, James, and John beheld the transfiguration of Jesus, when His face shined like the sun and whose clothes were as white as light. They watched Jesus heal various diseases and even bring the dead back to life.
Some of those cases are recorded in the Bible. A Syrophoenician woman went before Jesus and received the healing of her daughter’s demon-possession. A sick man laid near the Bethesda pool for 38 years without anybody helping him, but he stood up and walked just by the command of Jesus. The blind man Bartimaeus and a man who was born blind received sight by meeting Jesus. A woman with long term bleeding couldn’t be cured by physicians, but she was healed just by touching the edge of Jesus’ robe.
We can also consider the example of Mary Magdalene who suffered the curses of her family because her family worshipped idols excessively. She was healed of all her diseases by meeting Jesus while she was living in circumstances like sheer darkness. By Jesus’s command the dead Lazarus came back to life and came out of the tomb, with his hands and feet bound with wrappings and his face wrapped around with a cloth.
In order to deliver the will of God and manifest God’s power during the 3 years of public ministry, Jesus didn’t have any time to rest. He couldn’t eat well or sleep well. He spent all his time only for God’s kingdom and the souls. He fulfilled God’s will until the moment He shed all His blood and breathed His last on the cross.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
2,000 years have passed since then, and He is still working for the souls. Romans 8:34 says, “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” Since His resurrection, He is interceding for us in heaven even today.
And tomorrow is the day we celebrate the birthday of our Lord. It’s the day of the Lord who came to this earth to save us and lead us to heaven. He planted faith and hope of heaven in us through His ministry of the cross. Those who truly feel the love of Jesus Christ and experience His power can rejoice and enjoy the joy of the Christmas in their hearts. Just like the disciples of the Lord, you also have experienced the love and power of the Lord. With your thanks and love, why don’t you say to the Lord, “Congratulations on the birth of the Lord! Lord, thank You for coming to this earth for us.” I hope we will all celebrate the birth of the Lord together and be filled with His love on the Christmas.
