The Reason We Need Christmas - Selected Scriptures

0:53Well, speaking of Christmas, no doubt, have you noticed that, especially in the last years, that there's been an increasing divide over the C-word in our society? There's this sense that the word Christmas, the C-word, brings one of two reactions. There are more, but it seems pronounced lately that there's one of two reactions. There's either great joy on the one hand and intense fear or anger on the other hand about this religious holiday based upon the passage that Keith. Just read out of Matthew 2. These were the very same reactions that happened 2,000 years ago. There was great joy that took place, and there was anger that doesn't make sense at the birth of a little baby boy when Jesus arrived on the scene. So let's consider these two reactions both very carefully this evening. Most people have wonderful memories of Christmas, no doubt. Those of us who are in my age bracket, you can remember as a child the Christmas morning, the excitement the night before, and all that faced you during the day. And if you're in your younger years, you just went through it. Perhaps you were looking for a particular gift and you ran to your parents, you ran to the tree to open that gift. Well, I have my own favorite memory. Let me just show it on the screen here. Anybody recognize this? Yeah, Les knows what they are. These are sizzlers. Sizzlers were great because back in the 19, probably early 70s, as far as I know, there wasn't a kind of a car that you could put on a track and it would run by itself. You had to push them, right? So this track had its own little gas station. Well, it wasn't gas. It was maybe electrical charge for a battery for the car. And it ran around the track. Well, when I saw this thing and I opened it up, I saw it. Nothing else mattered that was going on in the house. I had asked for this toy from my parents for a long time. I believe I was probably about eight years old, maybe nine. Opened this. Up and I played with it for about an hour. And then Kim, my sister, and her best friend Tracy from next door, walked in the door and we had this wrought iron dividing thing that divided the two rooms, the door entry and the room itself. And maybe you get a sense of where I'm going with this. Well, this wrought iron piece that had been standing there for probably a few years decided it was going to crash in on my toy that day, and it broke it to pieces. I was shattered. I was crushed, such that I would remember it at the age of 52.

3:36So, now that you know my age, if you have Sizzlers at your house, I am officially inviting myself to come over and play. And we will curl up on the carpet and we will play Sizzlers. If you don't have them, find a way to get them. Goodness gracious, they're a lot of fun. That's my favorite memory of Christmas. I'm sure that you have your favorite. But that's not what Christmas is all about, is it? Maybe in our society it is. On the other hand, as we think about Christmas, any word to identify this time of year, not the dreaded C word, is probably good. You can say happy holidays. You can say winter solstice, whatever that means, or seasons greetings, or any one of those. It doesn't take long to find even the atheists are in on the action. They know what Christmas is all about because they even put it on their advertisements. Let me show you something that just came out in a city that we used to live in, Memphis, Tennessee. You can see on the screen here, this is a roadside billboard. It says, Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is to skip church. I'm too old for fairy tales.

4:41Well, there's a reaction to the word Christmas, and the atheists aren't afraid to use the C word on their sign in derision, and even church. And they've even considered themselves theologians because they consider the Bible that you're holding as a fairy tale or filled with fairy tales. And so they have clearly done scholarly work. They've gone through both the Old Testament and the New Testament, come up with the conclusion that this is a fairy tale. I don't think they have. It's just easier to make fun of it. So this little girl is proudly displayed on the roadside, probably I-240 that goes from east to west in Memphis. And there you have it. They have their own convention coming up on April 2nd through the 5th to look at atheism. So why is Christmas even necessary? We ask the question, why is this even important? We look forward to this time of year for a lot of reasons. We get to spend time with family, with friends, wonderful meals. I've gained at least 150 pounds over the last 30 hours. I'm sure you have probably gained a little bit as well, not nearly as much as I have. But we ask the question, why is it necessary? And to answer that question, we have to look at the Bible and let the Bible answer that question for itself. So would you turn with me to Genesis chapter 3?

6:00Who would believe that we'd turn to the opening chapters of the Bible to look at a New Testament concept? But in Genesis chapter 3, we really find the stage is set for our understanding of Christmas. As you're turning to Genesis 3, I want to tell you that I have a goal for you today. And if you want to write it down, it's on the screen. If you need to, my goal is this: I want you to look at the necessity of Christmas from God's perspective. And there's a reason I want you to look at it from God's perspective, and it's so that you can grasp the depth of man's depravity and the breadth of God's mercy. That's why we're here today. If I would ask you to walk out with anything, it would be to walk out with an understanding of man's depravity and God's mercy. Well, our investigation into the necessity of Christmas already started with Keith as he read so faithfully Matthew chapter 2, verses 1 through 16. And so, because Jesus was a threat to Herod's reign, you see, he went berserk and decided he wanted to kill all the baby boys in the region because he didn't know which one was Jesus. He murdered all those baby boys in that region two years and under.

7:16You ever consider the reason for such a violent reaction from this man to a little baby boy, an infant? What trouble could a little baby cause this? Man. You ever think about why that would be? Why would he do that? You see, Herod was angry. He was angry because the rightful king of Israel had just been born, and he knew it. Did you know that Herod is from the line or the lineage of Esau? He is from the line of Esau. And if you remember your Genesis, your Old Testament, you would remember that Esau is the younger brother over Jacob, and he sold his birthright to his younger brother. So he doesn't get to be king all these years later. He has no legal right to the throne. Herod knows that he could be dethroned if he doesn't take evasive action, if he doesn't take heartless, even wicked measures.

8:20And we would say, so that's what life was like the first couple of Christmases for little baby Jesus, who didn't do anything wrong, clearly. The necessity of Christmas didn't begin the day that Jesus was born. You're going to see that God planned on Christmas from the first days of human existence, which brings us really to our first two points this morning for the necessity of Christmas. Number one is a deceived woman and a rebellious man, and we see that in Genesis 3:1 through 6. And then, of course, a redemptive God in Galatians chapter 4, verses 1 through 7. We see both of these so clearly. So, you should have your Bibles open to Genesis chapter 3, verse 1. Just follow along with me as I read.

9:10Moses penned these words. He said, Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which Lord God, the Lord God, had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? The woman said to the serpent, From the tree, or from the fruit of the trees in the garden, we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die. For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate. And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

10:08So the necessity of Christmas started way back 4,000 years ago in the Garden of Eden, perhaps 4,000 years before Jesus was born. And since our first point really focuses on this deceived woman and this rebellious man, let's be sure that we have. A clear mindset, a clear understanding of who Adam and Eve knew God to be in their brief life in the garden. And we need to understand that so that we have a better understanding of their deception and of their rebellion. In chapters 1 and 2, actually from chapter 1 through chapter 2, verse 3, before human people, before people enter the world stage, God is simply identified as God in the English language, G-O-D, in the Hebrew language, Elohim.

11:05Now, it's really critical for us to understand this, to know how God presented his name, because it comes up again when Eve is deceived. You see, the serpent, the snake, he uses God's name in a way to trick her, to deceive her into thinking something about God that's not true. So in Genesis, let me just read Genesis 3:1 here again. Now, the serpent was more crafty than any beast in the field, which the Lord God made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said, you shall not eat from any tree in the garden?

11:40I also want to read Genesis 2:4. Notice Genesis 2.4. This is the first time God uses his forever name in the Bible. We see it in our Bibles as the Lord, God, the Lord God. It would be capital L-O-R-D in your Bible, and God, it's Yahweh L.O. Elohim. And notice in 2.4, we read these words. This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that Lord God, the Lord God, that's Yahweh Elohim, made the earth and heaven. It seems Adam and Eve only knew God as Yahweh Elohim. They only knew God as Lord God, capital L-O-R-D, God.

12:26And we need to notice something in Genesis 2, 7 through 9, which lays some groundwork before Eve's deception. So glance over to Genesis chapter 2, verses 7 through 9. Follow with me as I read along, and we'll pick off a few details here that we'll talk about. Verse 7. Then the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living being. And the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, planted a garden toward the east in Eden, and there he placed the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground, the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

13:19Based upon verses 7 through 9, what do we know that is true about God? Take a look at that passage, and I'll put something on the screen here to help us. In that passage, what we see is true about God is that the Lord God planted it. That's Yahweh Elohim planted it. And he placed Adam in that garden. And he caused every tree to grow. That's what we know that the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, has done in that particular passage. What do we know is true about every tree in the garden? What do we know that is true about them? Because God told us, He said, each tree is pleasing to the sight. It looks good. Having grown up in Southern California, I can tell you there were plenty of orange trees and avocado trees and lemon trees, all kinds of trees. They looked good. They looked marvelous. Now, where I grew up was in the desert, and there weren't many trees, but the ones we did see, they looked fine. We wanted to look at them because they were strange to us in the Mojave Desert. But these trees, they looked marvelous. They looked pleasing to the sight for Adam and Eve. And then God said that each tree is good for what? It's good for food. You can eat from these trees. God tells them that, every single one of them. But God emphasizes two particular trees in the garden. You know them well. What are they? Number one, they're the tree of life. And number two, the second tree is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

14:51Here's what we know about the tree of life. This may be one of the first times that you've seen what's true about the tree of life throughout the Bible. Here's what it says. Genesis 3, 22, eating from the tree of life leads to eternal life. In Revelation 2, 7, overcomers eat from this tree. Those are believers. People who are believers and testify they're believers because of their actions to the very end. They are the ones who eat from this tree. And Revelation 22, 2, we see that the tree of life heals. Its leaves heal the nations. That's what this tree does. And Revelation 22, 14, believers have a right to this tree. If I could talk to Adam and Eve this morning, even tonight, I would say, why didn't you start with this tree? Why'd you go after the one he said not to eat from? It's fascinating. God told Adam, don't eat from the tree.

15:54Yet Eve was clearly told by Adam not to even touch the tree. That wasn't God's message, as far as we know from the text. He said to Eve, his wife, don't even touch it. Well, these are the trees that are pleasing to the sight. They looked good, and God said they were both good for food. Now, watch what God does. Watch what he does in Genesis 2, 16 and 17. He says this, the Lord God commanded the man, from any tree of the garden, you may eat freely. Any tree. There's a caveat. But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you, who? You, Adam, shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, Adam, you'll surely die. He's talking to Adam here at this moment. And he says to him, if you eat from this tree, you're going to die. I want you to focus in on another word in verse 16. It's that word command or commanded. I want to give you a little factoid here. I would quiz you later on this and ask you how many times the word command or commanded shows up in the Hebrew Bible. Did you know it shows up 494 times? You're saying, why is that important for me to know that? 494 times. This is the very first time the word command appears in the Hebrew scriptures. There was one commandment back in that day, and I suppose if they had public school systems in that day, it would probably be okay to tell children not to eat from a particular tree because it would kill them. I don't think the ACLU would make them remove that sign. There was one commandment back then. Don't eat from the tree. Adam?

17:38Don't eat from the tree. There's two specific components about this command. God says, you. Do you see the word you there? You, speaking to Adam. You singular, Adam, you may eat freely from any tree. The command continues in verse 17. He says, but from any, from the tree, Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you, Adam, you shall not eat. Then comes the warning. God says, Adam, if you eat from this tree, you'll surely die. You will surely die.

18:17And the remainder of Genesis 2, Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, he rewards Adam with the woman of his dreams. We call her name Eve. And I say reward because, gentlemen, did you know that in Ecclesiastes 9, 9, it says, your wife is your reward? Adam was rewarded with his wife, and he was to take care of her. He told her, don't touch the tree, Eve. And chapter 3 is where we start our initial investigation into the necessity of Christmas.

18:53I just want to say this. If you don't understand this chapter, if you don't grasp this chapter, chapter 3, you'll never understand the real meaning of Christmas, I promise you. Worse, you'll never understand the Bible. This chapter is so very important. It shows us the root of every mental, moral, social, physical, political problem that man has ever or will ever face. It's found right here. Look at verse 1. We find these words. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast in the field. Which the Lord God, Yahweh Elohim, had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, this is what he's saying. This is Satan's first crack at Scripture. Indeed, has God said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?

19:50Do you see something wrong with this quote? The serpent refers to God only as Elohim. You don't see capital L O R D, Lord here, Yahweh. You're going to see in verse 3 Eve's deception as she takes Satan's lead and for the first time doesn't refer to God as Yahweh Elohim. She refers to him as Elohim. So humankind's first problem resides in the fact that in what people know to be true about God, they reject. She knew his name and she rejected his name. The idea here is that the serpent, Satan, wants Eve to doubt God's word. Herein lies the root of all man's problems. You see, you've got a right to question God, you've got a right to question the authority of his word, don't you see, Eve?

20:54Don't let anybody take your free will away from you, not even God, is the idea. That the serpent wants to give. And so, people today, even in my former life, without walking with Christ, I wouldn't listen to God. I'm amongst those, of course. So, clearly, clearly, what we're seeing here is a misrepresentation of God in the first days of human life. But it's ever so subtle, isn't it? I want to cozy up to this text a little bit, and I want to understand it just a little bit better. I want to put both of these texts on the screen here. Here's what God said in Genesis 2:16: Lord God, Yahweh Elohim commanded man from any tree of the garden, you, Adam, that's singular, may eat. Here's what the snake said in 3:1.

21:47Indeed, has God said y'all shall not eat? He uses a plural you. He uses this plural you, this smarmy snake messes with Texas. He uses a y'all. That's not what God said. He says, Indeed, has God said y'all shall not eat from any tree of the garden, Eve? It's fascinating. Eve's deceived because God didn't say, Y'all, plural. From the serpent's perspective, Eve must admit that God only told Adam not to eat, right? She must admit it. It doesn't appear that God told Eve not to eat. We don't see that in the text. Are you seeing just the deception here? He's like, Yeah, he didn't tell me. He told Adam. I guess it's okay for me. I don't touch the tree. Maybe it's okay if I just eat the fruit.

22:46Now, for the woman's response in verses 2 and 3, again, I have up here what God said just to even it out. God says in 2.16, the Lord God commanded the man, from any tree of the garden, you may eat freely. And then this is Eve's response. From the tree, from the fruit of the trees in the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, y'all shall not eat from it or touch it, or y'all will die. It's not what God said. It was you singular. She's using a plural here.

23:22Very important for us to understand that. Let's observe the problem. Satan wants Eve to misinterpret God's command. Eve leaves out the words any and freely that God used in 2.16. Eve's focus is on the location of the tree, not the importance of the tree. You know, that tree in the middle of the garden, that's the one she's pointing to. And Eve refers to God the same way the serpent refers to him, not as Lord God, not as Yahweh Elohim, just as God, just as Elohim. I want you to think about something here. Yahweh, or Lord. Capital L-O-R-D refers to God's sovereignty. It refers to his rule.

24:06Satan wants to leave this out because he never wants man to recognize God's sovereignty. He never wants man to recognize that God is ultimately in control. So he takes that out of the picture when he cites scripture, when he cites God's word. You see, questioning God's sovereignty is precisely what leads Satan to attack God through a bald-faced lie. Look at verse 4. Here's what he says: The serpent said to the woman, Y'all surely shall not die or will not die.

24:46Hmm. He's using that plural again. It's another attack on the authenticity and the authority of God's word. Now, take note: all rejection of God begins with questioning his sovereignty. This is a blatant attack. Right up front, a blatant attack on who God is. God told Adam if he'd eat the fruit, he'd die. Eve knows this applies to her as well, but Satan introduces her to false hope. He deceives her. And incidentally, did you know that the word deception or deceive literally means false hope? When you deceive somebody, you give them false hope. No matter what it is, you are giving them hope. That's not true about a particular topic, and that's what Satan does here. She admits that she was deceived. Eve's will to resist, is weakened, and Satan knows it. So he fires off another attack in verse 5. Another attack in verse 5. Okay, so let's see where our investigation into the necessity of Christmas takes us from here. Watch how it plays out in verse 5.

25:55Here's what he says: For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. There's a depth to this deception, to this lie that we need to take a look at. You see, a really good lie always includes plausible truth incorporated with falsehood, and that's what's going on here. A good lie always includes plausible truth that sounds right, incorporated with outright falsehood. So, Satan's right in a few ways. Let's take a look at them. These lies that we see here, sprinkled with truth, they wouldn't die physically that day, right? They didn't die that day. In fact, they lived for hundreds of years. Later, physically, they died spiritually.

26:54Number two, they would become like God. You say, in what sense? Well, in the sense that. That they would know good and evil. You see, they didn't know evil before. Now they know it. Genesis 3:22. Their eyes would be opened to a kind of knowledge that they'd never experienced. Genesis 3:7. What kind of knowledge did they experience here for the first time? Verse 7. The eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. What?

27:25And they sowed fig leaves together and made for themselves loin coverings. So they recognized something about themselves that they weren't ashamed about before. Follow along with me as we continue in our investigation in verse 6, as we pick up a few more things. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from the fruit and ate. And she gave it to her husband with her, and he ate. So sad.

28:01So there you have it. Eve was deceived, and she allowed everything that she knew true about God and his sovereignty to simply exit her mind, to slip right out of her mind, his word that he'd told her and Adam. There were consequences for her sin, but they didn't show up immediately, right? She ate the fruit, and she didn't. Yet. And in verse 13, she admits that the serpent deceived her. Did you know that the name Eve only shows up in the New Testament two times? Two times. Here's where they show up. 1 Timothy 2:14, the word Eve appears. And then again, in 2 Corinthians 11, 3.

28:52Both these verses, both times that Eve's name is mentioned, it mentions the fact that she was deceived. She was given false hope. You turn in your Bibles with me to Ephesians 5, verse 6. I'm going to look at that word deception in a more clear way from the New Testament. There's another command that's given here in verse 6. Ephesians 5, verse 6, we read these words. He says, Let no one deceive you. And in the original language, that's a command. He's commanding the readers of this book, do not let people deceive you. Put an exclamation point there. Do not let anyone deceive you with empty words, for because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. The Bible commands you not to be deceived. You mustn't be deceived, like Eve was deceived. You mustn't let this happen.

30:00Don't be deceived by the atheists that God's word contains fairy tales that we saw earlier. People are deceived by that sign. And we have a command not to be deceived. I don't want you to miss the point. You realize that Adam and Eve had never seen anything dead at this point in time in their lives, right? Nothing had died before this. They were the first created beings. This is quite an argument against evolution, by the way, isn't it?

30:35Nothing else had died before they were created. Romans 5 is very clear about that. Since Eve looked the same after eating the fruit, Adam despitefully rejected God's warning, and he ate it too. She was deceived, but he high-handedly rejected God. He said, forget it, God. It looks good, just like you said. I'm going to eat it. Nothing's happened to her. This is my experience talking, God. So, our investigation in the necessity of Christmas leads us to talk about Adam's rebellion for a moment. We spent a lot of time on Eve, didn't we? What about Adam? Where is he in this picture? If you look at the text, first glance, there's not a whole lot to develop here.

31:28He ate the fruit. Verse 6. Eve simply gives Adam the fruit, then chomp, chomp, chomp. The deed's done. That's it. Things aren't what they seem because, in verse 7, they had a new kind of knowledge. They saw themselves, and we just read it, they saw themselves as naked for the first time. And God says, Who told you you were naked? They didn't see that before. You want to know something? Paul says that, in effect, you and I were there with them in the garden.

32:04You and I were there in the garden with Adam and Eve, just as we've inherited their physical DNA in our lives. He's also transmitted his sin to us. We can't escape it. I was thankful for Keith's message this morning. He reminded us of what theologians call original sin. You see, people are sinners by nature. People are sinners by choice, and people are sinners by divine declaration. Let me show you what I mean by that. Romans 5:12. We're sinners by nature. He says this, Paul writing these words, Therefore, just as through one man, sin entered into the world and death through sin, that's Adam, by the way, and so death spread to all men. Ladies, you're not excused here, because all sinned. Romans 5:12. What about the Old Testament? What about Psalm 14? Verses 12. 1 through 3, we read these words: the fact that people are sinners by choice. The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.

33:11They are corrupt. They have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there were any who understood, if any who seek after God. They all have turned aside. It's by their own choice. Together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good. Not even one. Well, I said that sinners are sinners by choice. What about the choices made in Genesis 3, verses 11 and 12? And he said, Who told you that you were naked?

33:53Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat? Did God ask a question he didn't know the answer to? Is he like, hmm, I wonder if he ate from that tree? I don't think so. The man says this, picture this. He's by himself. It's kind of like the illustration we heard this morning from Keith and his little boy, one years old, who wakes up and says his brother did whatever. And brother says, no, I didn't. The man said, the woman. He points to the woman. This special gift, this reward. And said, Lord, you gave her to me. It's your fault that she made me eat this thing.

34:39And I ate. Finally, he admits his own guilt. So sinners are sinners by choice. We like to blame things on other people. What about Jeremiah 17, 9? Sinners are sinners because God says so. We learn from Jeremiah 17, 9, the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? God can. He says, I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind. We're sinners because God says so. Notice what our investigation in the necessity of Christmas has uncovered so far. When people don't know their Bibles, they are susceptible to the raw realities of deception, to the raw realities of false hope. Eve thought she could get away with eating of this tree. She was deceived. Remember, a really good lie includes plausible truth sprinkled with a little bit of falsehood, just enough to get us to bite off on whatever it is that we're being tempted with. Just like Adam and Eve. Just like they heard God speak to them, so do we. Not in the sense that we're in the garden. With them.

36:02This Bible is God's gracious gift to you. And in it, we learn from our Father, from our Creator, who we are in Christ and how to live in the world. And you say, but I want to be like Adam and Eve. I want to hear God speak to me. Open your Bible and read it. You say, well, I want to hear Him speak out loud. Well, read it out loud. And you can hear God speaking to you. This is the text from which we hear from God.

36:38We don't have prophets writing texts of Scripture today. That ended 2,000 years ago. You want to hear from God, open the Bible, and He tells us who we are to be. He told Adam, don't eat from the tree. Adam tells his wife, don't touch it, and then there were consequences. You don't want to read God's Word. You won't know what He says. You are going to be deceived, and you will fall into the same pit of destruction. Anything that keeps you from applying God's Word leads to false hope, leads to deception.

37:15What keeps you from a daily basis of opening this to say, God, what do you have to say to me today? What prevents you from opening it to say, God, how do I apply what you're saying here? What do you mean by what you say? And apply. Play it. We have some really good news. The Father, he promised a solution to the situation, to our sin problem, which brings us to our second point here: a redemptive God. Turning your Bibles to Galatians chapter 4, because we see God solving this problem in Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4, 4 says this: But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. So God's promises throughout the Old Testament is to send a Savior who would reverse the curse of sin for all those who are believing in him. And I want to illustrate this in the Old Testament, just in a way that would help us to understand. In Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 through 7, we would think that if we didn't know anything about the Bible, this would be a verse that was pulled from the New Testament, and yet it was written probably somewhere around 700 B.C. A little bit later than that, probably. Isaiah pens these words: For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the governments will rest on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David. David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness. From then on and forever, the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this.

39:17Sounds like a New Testament text. Back in Galatians 4:4, we see the sending of this child, this wonderful council, this prince of peace, this mighty God, this rightful heir to King David's throne, whom Herod sends out his henchmen to kill, to abort at the very young age of perhaps two. This takes place at the most appropriate time in history. This Galatians 4:4, God sent forth his Son. According to John 1, this is none other than Jesus, God in the flesh, John 1:1, in the beginning was the Word, is what John tells us. We read in John 1, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. Glory is the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. That was Christmas, Him sending His Son.

40:19That is the necessity of Christmas. That is a merry Christmas. This is when God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, but for what reason? Why did he do that? Verse 5 in Galatians tells us that word so that in verse 5 in your Bible, so that he, here's the reason, so that he might redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons. You need to keep in mind that Paul is writing to people in the Galatian region, which would be primarily Gentiles. It's modern-day Turkey.

41:00These are primarily Gentiles, but believing Jews, no doubt, would have been there too. They would have read this letter of Galatians. Let's go back a few verses to place this in context. Incidentally, there's a purpose for Paul writing this letter to the Galatians that they might be made right with God by faith, not by the works of the law. That is to say, they are justified by faith. They are made right by faith. We hear the phrase in our world these days: no justice, no peace, and no justice, no peace. We would say from the book of Galatians, K-N-O-W, justification, K-N-O-W, peace. No justification, no peace, no God's method of salvation, no peace. That's the book of Galatians.

41:51Would you join with me as I read from verses 26 of Galatians chapter 3 through chapter 4, verse 3? Paul writes these words. He's writing to Jews and Gentiles. He says, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise. Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from the slave, although he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the day set by his father. So also we, while we were children, we were held bondage under the elemental things of this world.

42:55Paul wants believers to know, Paul wants people to know that, regardless of race, regardless of social class, that for those who have embraced the Lordship of Jesus Christ, they are God's sons. The implication: if you haven't placed your hands, your life in God's grip, then you are not his son, you are not his daughter. We see that so clearly in the book of Ephesians. I want you to notice something about verse 29 if you just take a look at it again.

43:30He says, and if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise. The word if there, in the original language, you could also say since. You could read it this way, since you belong to Christ, then you're Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise. The idea is that you belong to Christ. And that all the nations would be blessed through Abraham. You, me, as a Gentile nation, are blessed through Abraham. We don't get the same blessings of land promises that Abraham gets, but we are blessed if we are those who fall into the promises laid forth in the Abrahamic covenant, which we won't go into in Genesis 12 and 15. You say, I'm not Jewish. How am I going to be blessed by God if I'm not Jewish? See, Paul addresses your question in verses 1 through 3.

44:30He uses an analogy here. A child may be the heir of his family's wealth, but it's just a child. All this wealth means nothing to him because as a child, he doesn't have access to it. Just like a slave in those days, they didn't have access to anything but what their master had given them. The child's wealth is in bondage because he can't do anything with his inheritance until such a time, predetermined by his parents. Notice how. Paul turns the corner with this analogy in verse 3. He says this: So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world.

45:16So, like a poor, wealthy child, a poor, wealthy child who doesn't have access to the cash, and like a slave, we are held in bondage under the elemental things of this world. Elemental things meaning childish things. They didn't have access to their riches, but we have access through Christ. Watch how Paul combines these two words, elemental and deception. Here in Colossians chapter 2, verse 8, he combines these two words. He says, This, see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy. In other words, don't let anybody deceive you with philosophical ideas that aren't found in God's word. And empty deception, that's false hope, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

46:06Don't let the elementary things, the arguments of the world that aren't based on sound biblical reasoning take over your mind. That's what he's trying to say to us. They're in Colossians 2:8. In the Greek New Testament, that word deception is the same word that Eve used when she told God that she was deceived by the devil. Paul's point in the text is that when people place their trust and deceptive philosophies of men, psychologies of men, and the elementary principles of the world rather than in Christ, they're just like Eve. They're deceived. They're taken captive. They're left without hope because they jettison right out of their minds what God says in the Word. That's why it's so important to stay in the Scriptures. So when people are deceived and taken captive with the elementary principles of the world, what must they do instead? Well, you've got to be like Eve. She recognized the fact that she was deceived. We call this repentance. We call this repentance, and we stop being deceived. We fulfill the command that we're given in Ephesians 5. Don't be deceived. We know God's Word, and we won't be deceived.

47:23She repented, and so must we when we find ourselves deceived. Eve mindlessly doubted the authority of God's word. She allowed his truth to just slip from her mind. It's like it was never there. She preferred the words of a lying, Texas-hating snake rather than the words of God himself, whose words have no hope, that snake. So let me ask you a question: Who is speaking into your life today? Psalm 1 says, Don't sit in the seat of mockers and the counselors of mockers. Whose words are you mindlessly favoring of the authority of God's word?

48:12You say, I'm not. I'm in the scriptures. Well, that's wonderful. Stay there. If you're not there, then somebody eventually will be getting a hold of your mind and taking you away from the truth of God's word. Eve had to do one thing, not touch the tree. Don't buy into the empty message filled with false hope in our world. You want to know what hope is? Let me tell you what hope is right from the pages of Scripture. Hope right from Yahweh Elohim. He will never deceive you. He'll never deceive you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Let's take one more look at Galatians 4, verses 4 through 7. I'm going to read this and just focus on it just a little bit. Verses 4 through 7 says this: But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that, here's the reason, that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons, Gentiles.

49:20Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Daddy, Daddy. That's amazing, isn't it? That we would be given these words, these words of hope, these words of truth, that we would be adopted by God. So we've investigated the necessity of Christmas, and we have found that Christmas didn't begin the day Jesus was born. The baby in the manger is great. It reminds us of that one important day that God became flesh, but that's not when Christmas began. God planned for Christmas, the very first days of human existence. I mentioned I had a goal for you today, and that's to consider the necessity of Christmas from God's perspective. And the reason for that is so that we would have a grasp on the depth of man's depravity and the breadth of God's mercy. We can see that in his forgiveness as we plow our way through the book of Galatians. Considering Eve's deception and Adam's outright rebellion, we see that each one of us is guilty of the same things as our first parents.

50:39But for now, I would ask in which of these categories might you find yourself today? Could you find yourself with Eve's deception and false hope? It's you're deceived, maybe, because you just forgot the truth that God gives? Or are you like Adam, an outright high-handed rebellion? Against the Lord. Both of them, I would suggest, would require repentance. May I suggest that you're deceived if you're listening to people who have no hope, who have false hope, who bring to the table an argument that is not found in Scripture by people who don't know God's Word.

51:22The only remedy for deception, the only remedy, as I've said, is found right here in the pages of Scripture. And God has given it to us to read. And I think about all the nations around the world, people that die to have a sliver of what we have, and yet we have all 66 books. Some are bound in leather, expensive Bibles, and they look nice on our coffee tables. We need to read them. The only remedy for this deception is to consult the pages of Scripture given to you by none other than Yahweh, Elohim, whom Eve knew.

52:00So if you're living in rebellion against God today, today is a new day. You and I, we are the necessity of Christmas. When somebody says, Why is Christmas necessary? You say, I am the reason. You are the reason for the necessity of Christmas. Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. I had the honor just recently of being asked to contribute to. A website called Glory Books Ministries. And this is one of my former professors in seminary, the Master of Seminary. He called me on the phone, and he asked me if I would help contribute to this blog. And so, if you found this at all interesting today, last Monday, this article based on this sermon appeared at Glory Books Ministry. There's the website. You can look it up.

52:54And just to condense it in a brief written format. And as we part our ways this evening, I want to just mention before we close in prayer, I want to mention 2 Peter 3:9. In 2 Peter 3.9, it says, God isn't slow about his promises, but is patient toward you. He doesn't want you to perish. And the way it's structured, he doesn't want you to perish yourself, is what he's saying there. Let me tell you what he wants in 1 2 Peter 3.9, because God says it so clearly through the pen of Paul. He wants you to come to repentance. He wanted Adam and Eve to come to repentance. He wants us to come to repentance because we are the necessity of Christmas. We are the reason God sent forth his Son at the most appropriate time in history to redeem people such as us. Well, why don't we close in a word of prayer and we'll be dismissed for our evening. With our families and friends. Father, we're so thankful for you. We're so thankful that you sent your Son, that you planned it from eternity past to bring redemption to your people, and you had timed it at the most appropriate time in human history that it would take place on that morning. That morning in a stable, you brought forth your son. And you did so because you saw that man was a sinner by choice, man was a sinner by nature, and man was a sinner because, Lord, you said we're sinners. And so you sent your own son to die on a cross, that you would redeem those who are believing in you. Lord, I pray this evening that you would take each one of us from this building and that you would cause us, that you would help us to spread this message of great and wonderful news. Lord, this, this is a Merry Christmas.

54:59Because now we know with certainty why Christmas must take place. Lord, use this message of yours to have a special impact on each and every one here. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. And have a wonderful celebration with your homes, your families, and I guess we'll come back next year.