Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
Gal.4:4 “But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”
The providence of God paved the way to Bethlehem. The plan of God to have Mary bring forth the Christ child in Bethlehem was prophetic, Micah 5:2.
Prophecy is always literally fulfilled, it is not figurative, it is real. It’s like God letting us peek into his window into the future. He doesn’t have to tell us these things. The first coming of Jesus Christ was real, and so will be his second coming. As the first came to pass so will the second come to pass. As we have studied, the church age and its conclusion with the rapture of the church; then the seven year tribulation period will occur between Jesus Christ first and second comings.
God Picked the Time - “But when the fullness of the time [pleroma tou chronou] was come”... This was the divine chronological time for the coming of Christ.
The time to offer the kingdom was fitting. The Jews were in constant unrest and the Roman government ruled over them. Actually the Roman government was fairer with the Jews than the religious Pharisees. The time of the birth of Christ came when Caesar Augustus decreed that all the people must be registered for taxation, Luke 2:1-5. For this to happen men would have to return to the place of their lineage. Joseph would have to return to Bethlehem and with his espoused wife, Mary, being so far along with child he would have to take her with him. Do you see the plan of God working even among the lost as God used a lost man, Caesar Augustus, to call the people to their hometowns?
Prov.21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like rivers of water; he turns it whithersoever he will.”
God Picked the Plan- “God sent forth his Son”
Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Salvation does not come through good works or religion, or any religious figure.
Matt.1:21 “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins.” This is why Jesus Christ came to the earth. He came to redeem mankind from the curse of the law. The law demonstrated to Israel and the whole world the utter failure of man to please God, or to pay for our offenses to God. The law proved mankind’s complete need for the grace of God. To break just one of the laws of God constitutes us as falling short of the glory of God. I know what I am about to say does not sound spiritual, but I would be more at ease in sinning a thousand times inside the family of God, than commit one sin outside of salvation in Christ. Matthew quickly gets to the purpose of Jesus’ coming... to save the people from their sins. This is why he came for each one of us here today, to save us from our sins. Our rejoicing at the birth of Christ finds its origin in God’s plan for sending his Son, not just in the birth of Jesus. Our hope is based on the purpose of his coming, not simply the person who came. Imagine if he had come and in his perfect humanity grew in the favor of God and men, that all he did was tell us how sorry and sinful we were; and then simply vanish back into heaven. No, he came to save us from our sins. He made this reconciliation to God possible through his death and his resurrection from the dead. If we have not received Jesus Christ as Savior we are not reconciled to God. God has picked the means of redemption plan, not man.
God Picked the Place - Mic.5:2
This prophecy was written during the 8th century B.C. God always knew the place, but he didn’t reveal it until 800 years before the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Bethlehem is only five miles south of Jerusalem and would have been considered a part of the Jerusalem community.
It is only fitting that the Son of God would be born in the community where he would be judged; crucified; resurrected, and eventually one day return to judge and rule the world.
There was no room for Mary and Joseph in the Inn. Perhaps it was full of weary travelers who too had come to be registered. No one offered his place for this expectant mother. No one said, I’ll be a gentleman and go find another place. No one moved over for them, and so they headed for the nearest shelter, perhaps the stable out back of the Inn where the travelers kept their animals. As Dr. Scofield said in one of his sermons “It wasn’t that they were hated, it’s just that they had no room for them”. How heartless can people be? To not let a poor expectant mother who is about to go through the most painful of human experiences be left out in the cold. Indeed the time was ripe for someone to point mankind to God. Like our society today they too had lost their love for others. The people had become cold and indifferent to those in need. Sympathy for others had been reversed to self-pity and isolationism. Perhaps this is why some folks despise Christmas. They are selfish all year and when they feel they have to part with something to give to someone else it practically kills them. They can scream, “I hate Christmas because it has become so commercial”, but what some mean is, I don’t want to do something for others.
Mankind as a whole today still has no room for Christ. Their lives are too busy and too full for Jesus Christ. Most people feel that Christ will only make their lives complicated and committed to a will outside of theirs, and they are right. The lost are confused with Christians today who haven’t acknowledged their godly commitments themselves.
God Picked the Mother - Luke 1:26-35; Isa.7:14
An engaged virgin was of the house of David, of the tribe of Judah, the tribe from which the Son of God would be born. She was not a high brow princess with a stately entourage committed to fulfilling her every want. She was not a woman of means. She was a simple village girl, probably still young and most certainly a virgin. The term virgin taken from the Greek word, parthenos, relates in most cases to a young virgin who has just reached adulthood; one who is pure physically and spiritually. God called on her through the angel, Gabriel, to tell her of her purpose in the plan of God. The Son of God would not be born of a human father for if so the child would be born of the seed of man and subsequently, as per Rom.5:12, the child would be born with a sinful nature. This truth is critical to the hypostatic union of Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man, sinless all the way.
God Picked the Name - Luke 1:31
You shall call his name Jesus; a most common name in those days. It is the Greek form of the Old Testament name, Joshua. This full name in the Hebrew is “Yahweh saves”.
This name expresses Christ’s humanity. Indeed other names are ascribed to him, but this is the common name Mary is to give him. His name identifies with the common person.
When it was time for him to come in and wash up for supper she called for Jesus.
When it was time to go to bed at night she called for Jesus.
When it was time for prayers she called for Jesus, and then one day, when it was time for her to call on her Savior to save her from her sins, she called for Jesus.
Have you called for Jesus? He is the Christ; the anointed one of God who came and took away the sin of the world. Now he’s calling for you. Will you receive him today if you haven’t already? Rom.10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Additional note to our internet audience.
As a believer, Jesus Christ continues to knock on the door of your heart for fellowship and his rightful place as the Lord of your life. He knocks on that door every time Bible doctrine is taught, especially by your Christ ordained pastor/teacher, Eph.4:7-16; I Tim.4:11-16.
The teachings of the Bible are good news to the believer. The Gospel doesn’t stop with only the salvation message. The Gospel also includes the rest of the good news that comes with being a Christian. This good news is God’s word to edify and encourage the believer.
I gave an illustration in our adult Bible study class this morning of a man who won the lottery. He won ten million dollars. He was elated. He knew he had it made for the rest of his life. After receiving the initial check, which he enjoyed very much and he continued to receive additional checks on a monthly basis, however, he did not cash the checks. He eventually used up the first check and then he sadly went back to his old job; scraping to get by month after month. The lottery checks kept coming in but he did not cash them in. I give this illustration to show how believers can gladly receive the Good News of the Gospel and be saved for all eternity. We have an eternal inheritance, and the biggest part of our earthly share of that inheritance is our weekly doctrinal instruction and worship of God at our right local church. But we can fail to attend thus failing to cash in on the place where God leaves the deposit of truth. Eventually we will return to a worldly life, saved, but defeated by the many cares of this world. If you are saved, you should be in your right local church under the teaching authority of your right pastor-teacher. Jesus Christ has ordained it this way and no amount of good works or activity will ever be a substitute for face to face teaching by the one your Savior has called to help you.
We all know the local church is not perfect, but this does not mean our Savior’s plan and purpose for the local church isn’t perfect. We know saints can be difficult at times, but continued spiritual growth and fellowship will allow each one of us the opportunity to exercise God’s virtue love through us. If we cannot stand to fellowship with God’s people we have failed one of the basic tests of our spiritual kinship as sons and daughters of God’s royal family. Sometimes we have to agree to disagree until we all come into the unity of the faith. If we keep searching for a church where everyone agrees with us we will fail the grace of God and miss out on so many spiritual growth opportunities.
God bless all of you as we go into the year of our Lord, 2008.