The Amazing Story of Christ’s Birth

In the Book of Daniel, four successive world ruling Empires are mentioned – the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greco-Macedonian Empire, and the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire was perhaps the strongest and the most powerful empire of the four. Its Roman Legions conquered many countries and its soldiers remained as peacekeeping forces in quite a number of areas.

In one of the historical records we find a remarkable story about a young man and his wife who lived at the time when the Roman Empire was in power. This couple lived in one of the countries under Roman rule. A peacekeeping force of Roman soldiers occupied their land.

In the course of time, this young woman gave birth to a child. Possibly the only one present with her when the child was born was her husband. It was probably her husband who mopped her brow as she laboured to deliver her child. It was probably her husband who held her hands and encouraged her as the birth pains grew stronger and stronger. It was probably her husband who held the child when it was born and handed the baby to her to cuddle and nurse. It was probably her husband who cut and tied the umbilical cord. The historical record does not tell us specifically about these things. We can only speculate.

But this baby was destined to alter the course of history. This baby was destined to influence the lives of millions of people. In fact, this child was destined to affect the life of each and every human being who has ever lived. You and I are here today because of this baby born in a small country, in the most humble of surroundings, under Roman rule, some 2000 years ago. The baby to which I am referring is, of course, Jesus Christ. His mother was Mary, and her husband was Joseph.

In just a few weeks time, millions of people the world over will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. December 25th will be one of the busiest celebrations in the Christian world. It is traditional to go to church on Christmas day, or perhaps the evening before.

In the lead up to Christmas, we are familiar with the carols by candle light programmes aired on television. As we walk through the shopping malls we see the signs of Christmas – the Christmas decorations, the Christmas trees, Father Christmas in the large stores, there’s the tinsel, and so on. The old time Christmas tunes are played over the PA system in large shopping malls and we find ourselves humming along with the tunes. They are very catching tunes and have been around for so long. There will also be the traditional Christmas dinner for many families.

In pulpits around the country passages from Matthew and Luke will be read and ministers, pastors, priests, and the clergy in general, will deliver the traditional messages of peace and good will among men.

Plays and pageants telling the story of Mary and Joseph, and the birth of Jesus, will be performed by the children. Someone will dress up as Joseph, another as Mary; a crib or a manger will be made up with straw and a baby doll placed there to represent the newborn child. There will be some to represent the shepherds, and others may dress up as the wise men from the East. There may be a representation of some sheep included as part of the stable scene as well.

For the Christian world in general Christmas is one the most important events in its religious calendar. For members of the Church of God it is exactly the opposite.

We have come to understand that Christmas has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and we do not celebrate Christmas.

We know that Christ was not born on December 25th. The Christmas tree and all its trimmings originated in paganism. Numerous historical evidences abound which show that the Christmas tree, mistletoe, yule logs, stockings on the hearth, exchanging gifts and so on, were part of pagan celebrations originating centuries before Christ was born.

None are of Biblical origin.

Anciently, December 25th was the date of the pagan Roman Brumalia, the final day of the popular week-long Saturnalia celebration. The Saturnalia was a celebration in honour of the god Saturn.

There are no instructions in the Bible saying we should celebrate Christmas. Christmas was not celebrated by the early New Testament Church. It was not until the mid fourth century that Pope Julius I decreed that December 25th was to be Christmas Day – actually Christ Mass Day. He sought to overshadow the popular Brumalia by imparting Christian meaning to the day.

But then some may ask, What is wrong with borrowing some of these early pagan customs and using them to honour Christ? Is it not appropriate to celebrate December 25th as long as we are doing it in His name, and because we want to honour Christ’s coming into the world?

The core question then arises: Can pagan practices be Christianised?

We have an incident in the Old Testament which answers this question very clearly.

In Exodus 32 we find the incident of the Golden Calf. While Moses was away in the mountain talking with the Eternal, the children of Israel got restless and fashioned a golden calf – a pagan idol. This golden calf represented the sacred Egyptian bull deity.

When the golden calf was completed, Aaron made an altar before it and declared a feast to the Lord.

Exodus 32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.

Now did God feel honoured by this proclamation? Did God approve of Aaron declaring the use of the symbol of a pagan god in a feast to the Lord?

Absolutely not! This was a great sin and some 3000 people lost their lives because of it.

God had commanded Israel not to seek to worship Him with customs borrowed from other nations, and other religious forms of worship. That’s in Deuteronomy chapter 12.

Deuteronomy 12:1-5 These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall NOT worship the LORD your God with such things.

God’s people should never comprise and meet paganism half way. Pagan worship – even if it is given a Christian flavour – is still paganism. Christianity mixed with paganism is not Christianity at all. Righteousness has no fellowship with unrighteousness

Notice 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

This instruction is very clear. Any form of paganism is unacceptable to God.

If God wanted us to observe Christ’s birthday, He would have given us the exact date, instructions how to observe it, and the reasons for doing so. But He has not. Christmas is an invention of human reasoning under the sway of the god of this world – it did not originate with God, neither does it have His approval.

As members of the United Church of God, Christmas holds no significance to us whatsoever. What does have significance for us is God’s annual holy days – which are His festivals – and which wonderfully picture God’s plan of salvation for all mankind.

But setting Christmas aside, we certainly do have the story of Christ’s birth in the Bible and it is the culmination of a series of remarkable events directly orchestrated by God over many centuries of time. Let’s examine some of these events. I believe we will be inspired as we see the hand of God working miracle after miracle over centuries of time, in empires, in nations, in communities, and in the lives of individual people. This is the Amazing Story of Christ’s Birth.

I’d like to begin with:

1 Peter 1:18-20 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

Before the foundation of the world – the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was planned by the Eternal Being whom we have come to know as God the Father, and the other Eternal Being whom we have come to know as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and our Saviour.

At some point in time past, God the Father and the One who became Jesus Christ formulated a plan to prepare a family of eternally living spirit beings – their children – just like them, in mind, and in nature. It was perhaps the most ambitious of all of God’s creation.

This plan called for the creation of human beings composed of flesh and blood, composed of physical matter, subject to decay and death, but with the power of free choice, with the capacity to sin, and in doing so they would face the death penalty for transgressing God’s great spiritual laws. The wages of their sin would be death.

It was, and is, part of God’s great plan that we come to love Him, desire to be like He is, to willingly follow Him, of our free choice. Only through the power and commitment of our free will in submitting to God, will God truly know that we love Him.

Enduring love comes not through being forced to submit, but only through the commitment of one’s free choice and will.

No one is forced to love God. We love Him because we WANT to. We love Him because of what He is – He is a God of love.

In order to redeem those who sinned from the death penalty, in order to be able to grant eternal life to those who would choose to love God and His way of life with all their heart and mind, it was decided that one of the two Eternal Beings would also become a human being and die for the sins of the entire human race. The One whom we call Jesus Christ willingly took upon Himself this enormous responsibility.

When Christ would be born, where he would born, in which country, in which city, in what place, amongst which people, in what circumstances – all this had to be meticulously planned. Nothing could be left to chance – nothing could be missed out – no possibility overlooked. The redemption of mankind was at stake.

At the appropriate time, Adam and Eve were created. And in a short time, they sinned. When they sinned, God did not suddenly come to the realisation that His creation had not made the right choice and now He was in trouble and He had to think quickly and devise a plan to rescue His creation.

God had already considered the possibility that His creation, human beings, would sin and would require deliverance – would require a Saviour.

Even if Adam and Eve had chosen of the tree of life, instead of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they still had the potential to sin, just as we do today. Though we have God’s Spirit, we can, and do, sin from time to time. We all need a Saviour.

The birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was not an effort by God to repair the damage done by Satan in the Garden of Eden. It was meticulously planned long before Adam and Eve sinned. It was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

God’s plan to bring salvation to the world was meticulously planned, and brought to pass.

The Eternal of the Old Testament, the One who became Jesus Christ, was the One who created Adam and Eve, who walked and talked with them. He was the One who dealt with Noah, Abraham, the children of Israel, and the prophets of old.

He also inspired the writing and preservation of the Books of the Old Testament and inspired numerous prophecies about Himself – about His first coming and what would happen to Him.

We do not have time to consider all the Old Testament prophecies which pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah, the Son of God who was also the Son of Man. There are indeed numerous prophecies which pointed to Christ’s first coming which were all meticulously fulfilled.

I want to refer in particular to several Old Testament prophecies in the Book of Isaiah. I have chosen Isaiah because the New Testament confirms that Isaiah was inspired to write about the coming of the Messiah centuries before He was born.

The Apostle John wrote in the Gospel of John:

John 12:37-41 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them. These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

Halley’s Bible Handbook says that Isaiah was called the Messianic Prophet because it was to his nation that one day a great and wonderful blessing would come from God to all nations. Isaiah refers to this wonderful blessing that was to come to all nations.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.

The prophet Isaiah was inspired to write about the coming the One who would be born of a virgin and that He would be called Immanuel– meaning GOD WITH US.

Isaiah 53 – This is a famous chapter with prophecies which describes in detail many of the things that Immanuel would do, and suffer.

Isaiah 53:1-12 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked–But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

These words are very familiar to us and we could go through this passage verse by verse and see how Christ fulfilled each one. But I don’t have time to do that in this sermon.

But I do want us to notice that Isaiah prophesied of these things some 750 years before Immanuel — that is, Jesus Christ — was born in Judea.

Now if we say 750 years quickly it does not seem such a long time. But it is over three times the length of time Australia has been a nation. Australia was founded in 1788 and 1988 was our bi centennial — our 200 years anniversary.

For Australia to be 750 years old as a nation, it would have been founded in the 13 hundreds. That’s a long time ago.

When God inspired Isaiah to write these prophecies of the coming of the Messiah, He has a specific time plan in mind and He carefully orchestrated every aspect of that plan over centuries of time.

Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman

Notice it says: When the fullness of time had come. Fullness: Like filling a cup with water drop by drop until it is completely full.

God watched over the course of events, century by century, decade by decade, year by year, month by month, week by week, day by day, ruling and guiding the circumstances until the right time – the exact time – came.

God was watching over the woman who would become the mother of Jesus Christ, and His foster father, Joseph, and they had to be there, in the right place, at the right time, of the right lineage, of the right age, of the right maturity in order to handle the responsibility of being the human parents of the Son of God.

What a weighty responsibility for Mary and Joseph? They fulfilled all the requirements and they were right there when the fullness of time had come.

We don’t venerate Mary but she was a remarkable woman to be chosen by God to be the mother of Immanuel – Jesus Christ. And likewise, Joseph, he indeed was a remarkable man to be entrusted with the care and upbringing of the Son of God.

Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.

Here was a further complication. Not only did Christ have to be born at the right time, and of parents God could trust, but Christ was prophesied to be born in a particular town – BETHLEHEM.