Why We Celebrate Christmas

1:19It is very unique to Christianity, the incarnation. Look at every Jewish holiday or every Old Testament. Leviticus holiday, their pictures, their foreshadows, their types, symbols, patterns pointing to a reality. And what we celebrate at Christmas is the reality, if you will, of many of those types and signs. We celebrate that moment where God becomes flesh. Now, of course, when does it happen? I don't really know. A lot of good theories out there, a lot of good arguments through the years that have put the day on, well, just a whole spectrum of dates.

2:30Some tie them to Jewish holidays. Maybe, maybe. It's one of the Jewish holidays, but it is such an event that I wouldn't be surprised in the economy of God if he gave it a whole completely different day. It's a day that is unique, that day and popular, probably most scholarship now that I'm. Around, sees it sometime in the fall, which, if that's the case, would put the conception sometime around now. So, in that sense, we really are celebrating the incarnation, right? The conception would be the incarnation. But what's significant is no gospel writer gives us a date, even a time of year, even John.

3:32And if you've been with us in John for any length of time, you know, John is very much about the festivals, isn't he? He's all about the Jewish festivals. His gospel seems to be oriented around the holidays. John took Mary in, right? John lived the longest. John knew Mary, was at Ephesus. You would think if anybody would have known the birth date, it would have been John. And John's attention to the holidays is unique. It's heavy, pays a lot of attention to him. And so, the fact that he doesn't Record this date.

4:33Either he didn't know it, which is kind of hard to imagine, or we weren't supposed to know it. Regardless. Maybe the answer is there in Scripture, but it has not come to the surface in any definitive way. And I think that's probably the way it's going to remain. But I want to share with you why we celebrate Christmas and boiling it down to the incarnation of our Lord and why the Lord took upon flesh and why, why we should, why I believe it is good to celebrate this day. Before I do, I want to tell you one of my earliest childhood memories. I think I'm about six years old.

5:37Yes, but six. And we had this new white pickup. And back then, you take the pickup and you put a little shell on top of the white pickup. And you cut a hole to the cab to the back of the shell. So you've got this suburban. You don't have to, and then you put a nice mattress down in the bed of the pickup, and then you put eight kids in there, and you drive across the country. That's what you did. You put the dogs, three, four dogs in there, and all the suitcases. I mean, you can really haul a lot. Well, it was on one of these days, and there were eight kids in the back. We were heading across, we were in the south, heading across, I don't know, some country, and there was a couple of families. We were together, and friends of my mom, my mom was driving. Well, all of a sudden, we've got to stop at a rest area. Everyone's got to go to the bathroom. So we stop, and then I'm one of the youngest, and all the boys take off to the men's restroom, and I'm following, taking up, you know, following to keep up. And I'm at the last of the line. Well, they finish, and then they run back to the truck. They all hop in, and I'm still trying to get to the restroom. I go, come out, and I see the pickup truck driving off.

7:16And I remember that very vividly. I remember all of the feelings that go with that. You know, tears the size of nickels. I'm sure, just started coming off my face. But I remember those thoughts as I watched them go. And I thought, I wonder if they're going to come back for me. And then I started sitting there for a while. I thought, I wonder if they love me. I wonder if they want my company. I mean, these are real thoughts. I'm sitting there. And even at the time, I knew that there was enough chaos that it's going to be a while before they figure out.

8:07But all these thoughts. And so I go to where that little guardrail stop was right there. And I just sat there. And I just thought, you know, I bet you they're going to come back. But I had all these thoughts. And I'll come back to that in a little bit. Interrupt the story. I'll interrupt the story for a Bible lesson, and then we'll come back to it in a minute. But if you look at the birth narratives in the Gospels, it's pretty remarkable what they say and what they don't say. Matthew, in chapter one, gives you the genealogy of the Messiah. He gives you the conception and birth of Jesus. Speaks a lot about the fulfillment of prophecies. In chapter two, Matthew talks about the visit of the Magi. He goes on in chapter two to Speak about the slaughter of the male children under Herod, speaks about the flight to Egypt, the return of the child to reside in Galilee. Mark, what's interesting, doesn't record any details about the birth of the Messiah. Luke, chapter 1, begins with the events surrounding John the Baptist's conception.

9:25Then he goes on to speak about the annunciation to Gabriel, of Gabriel to Mary regarding the conception, the visit of Mary to Elizabeth, the events of John's birth. In chapter 2, he goes on to speak about the events surrounding Messiah's birth, the angels announced the birth to the shepherds, the shepherds' visit, the baby Jesus in the manger. You have Simeon's prophecy there in chapter 2 of Luke. You have Anna's testimony there. Chapter 2, you have the return of the baby Jesus to live in Galilee. John, very simply, this is his narrative. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

10:23John certainly sees more than just a baby in the manger. The question becomes. Why? I mean, the language is that he pitched his tent among us. He pitched his tent. The almighty God, Creator, pitched his tent with us. And we lived with him. And we saw his glory. As we look at all this, we ask the question: why? Why did God become flesh and dwell among us? I appreciate your prayer, John, as you pour your heart out to God. Ask, May we see more, may we understand more. Why, God, did you take upon flesh? Why did you walk among us? Why did you pitch your tent? Why did you do that? Help me get my mind. Help us get our minds around that that we might worship him more and understand him more.

11:29Well, that's what I want to do tonight. I want you to understand four reasons why God became human, so that you will understand why it is good to celebrate the incarnation and why we do why we do. First of all, first of all, he came to seek his people. He came to seek his people. You know, Genesis chapter 3, 22. We read these words, Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, and now he might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So he drove the man out, and at the east of the Garden of Eden, he stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword, which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. And I believe that cherubim was a fierce and frightening sight. And I believe they left. And so you have this departure. God on that side, the garden, their memories go back there. And inevitably, the question is: does God still love us at all?

12:58Does God want a relationship? We can't go there. Is God going to come for us? Well, man needed seeking. And it's also clear in Scripture that man wasn't going to seek God. Man had no capacity any more than I had the capacity to go chase down that white pickup truck at age six years old. Psalm 53, 2 says this, God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside. Together they have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

13:52No one seeking. No one, everyone turned aside. But as you walk through Scripture, you see this compassion in the heart of God. And it's the God in the Old Testament is not any different than the God in the New Testament. You see very much He's the same God. You see the compassion. You see the love. You see the mercy. You see the drive, the seeking. Ezekiel 34, 6 says this: My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill.

14:31My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them. And he goes on in verse 11, For thus says the Lord God, Behold, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for my sheep. And will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.

15:07Well, that's the heart of God. Came to seek his people. In fact, you watch Jesus, God incarnate, God in flesh. You see this personified in him very, very beautifully. You remember Luke chapter 9? Jesus is going through Jericho, and there was a man named Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, and he was rich. In verse 3, Zacchaeus was trying to see who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see him, for he was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house. And he hurried and he came down and received him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, How he has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give it back four times as much. And Jesus said to him, Today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. So, why do we celebrate the incarnation?

16:52Because he came to seek his people. And that is why God became human. Why did God become human? Because he had to become human to seek his people. Second, he came to die for his people. He came to die for his people. Romans 6:23 makes it very clear that the wages of sin is death. Death involves a separation of the body from the spirit, right? That's what death is. It's a separation. It's never a termination. Death is always spoken of in Scripture as a separation. So, death, when a person dies, their body is separated from their spirit.

17:40But the eternal God was pure spirit, and he could not die. As being pure spirit, he cannot die. So, there you have it. The wages of sin is death. Death involves a separation of the body from the spirit. And, third, the eternal God. Because he is pure spirit, cannot die. Therefore, in order for God to experience death, he must become incarnate. That is, he must clothe himself in a body of flesh and blood. You see, God could not die, but God incarnate could die. He could lay down his flesh, he could pay the wages of sin. And so he came incarnate. He was born so that he would have flesh that he could lay down. So, though God could not die, God incarnate could die and did die for our sins. So, it's only an incarnate God can be the Savior of mankind. Only he could pay the penalty. And Hebrews reveals this as God's purpose as well. You spend any time in chapter 1 of Hebrews, you see this incredible, infinite glory of the Son of God. And then you come to chapter 2, and this infinitely glorious Son of chapter 1 is made a little lower than the angels. Why? Why?

19:28We read these words in. Verse 9, chapter 2. But we do see him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. That's why he had to be made lower than the angels because of suffering and death. He had to die. So the birth of Jesus cannot be understood as some isolated event in history, something about a little baby, something neat, something cool, something magical, something, it's not an isolated event at all. And it's impossible to understand the manger without the cross.

20:28Bethlehem was all about Calvary. The virgin birth was all about the crucified death. The incarnation of our Lord was the very first step to the cross. See, the birth of Jesus cannot, does not save anyone. It cannot save anyone. The power of salvation. Salvation is in the cross. And so God had to become human in order to die for his people. Only an incarnate God can die. So, four reasons why God became human. First, he came to seek his people. Second, he came to die for his people. Third, he came to experience the life of his people. He came to experience the life of his people. Now, there's only one way to have experience, and that's to have experience.

21:41There's only one, you can read about roller coasters all you want. You can read about what they do. You can even do some simulations on video or whatever. But the only way to experience a roller coaster is to what? Get on the roller coaster and ride, right? I mean, you can imagine what being poor is like, right? You can read about it, but you really don't know it by experience until you really are poor, right? And I think this is very important: that not even God, and we can say this with all the reverence we can. Not even God could know human life by experience unless he was born into human life and lived a human life.

22:40So he who was rich had to become poor. He who was in the form of God had to take the form of a servant. Why did he do that? Was it something he needed? Absolutely not. He needed nothing in himself. The need wasn't his at all, was it? The need was ours. We need a God who knows human life by experience. Let me give you two reasons why this is so. First of all, we need a God who knows human life by experience.

23:22We need a real high priest. So reason number one, he had to experience human life so that he could be our high priest. Hebrews 2:17:2, 17 says this: Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for sins of the people. For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the age of the Of those who are tempted. You see, he had to be made like us in order to be a merciful and faithful high priest for us. That's why he had to. God had to become human.

24:17Have you ever suffered? Guess what? So has he. Far more than our tongues, our minds, and could ever tell. Have you ever been tempted? Let me tell you, he has been tempted on a whole nother level, yet without sin. Have you ever been homeless? He had nowhere to lay his head. Have you ever felt the pain of ridicule and slander? He could say, reproach has broken my heart. Have you known the heartbreak of friends and loved ones who have proved false?

25:12He too was wounded in the house of his friends. Have you experienced the cold-hearted betrayal of somebody very close to you? He knew it in the deepest sense. Have you ever felt The loneliness of abandonment. Have you ever felt alone? He knew all of that. He had to walk the lonesome valley by himself. Abandoned, forsaken, despised, and rejected. He knows loneliness. You know, some of us may be going through some very trying times at the moment. And you may be wondering how God, in such far-off and glorious splendor, could ever be touched by the feeling of my burdens.

26:13Well, just remember at such times that God has lived our life. And there is no crisis of soul that is too much for him. There is no crisis of soul over his head. He has gone before us in all ways. He is a faithful high priest. Second, he is also our judge. John chapter 5, we spent a lot of time at the pool of Bethesda, didn't we? Listen to what he says in John 5:22. You remember what's going on? They had a saying, well, you're making yourself to be equal with God. He goes, yeah, that's right. I do the things only God can do. I know the things that only God knows. I give life, and that's something only God, and I am the judge, something only God does.

27:12He says this in verse 22. He says, For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Truly, truly I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave the Son to the Son to have life in himself. And he gave him authority to execute judgment. And here's why. Because he is the Son of Man. Isn't it interesting?

28:10All judgment is given to the Son. That's an astonishing statement. All judgment given to the Son. Why is that? Well, verse 27. He is the Son of Man. Now, is the Son wiser than the Father? Not at all. But of the three eternal persons of the triune God, only the Son has passed through the experience of human life. And so all judgment has been given to him because he is the Son of man. You see, the Incarnation gave to those who believe in him a Savior, and to the world who doesn't believe in him, a judge.

29:08But even there, you see grace, even in the midst of judgment, that the one who knows the problem of human existence by personal experience is the judge. This is grace upon grace, even in the midst of judgment. So, four reasons why God became human. First, he came to seek his people. He had to become human to do that. Second, he came to die for his people. He had to become human to do that. And third, he came to experience the life of his people, and he had to become human to do that. And fourth, finally, he came to reveal himself to his people.

29:56And there are three aspects of this revelation of him. To his people. First, is that he came to reveal to us what we ought to be. He came to reveal to us what we ought to be now. You know, I'm painfully aware, and as you look around our world, that man has never been what he ought to be, right? I see so much potential in humanity, right? And yet, he's never been what he ought to be. Something is fundamentally off and wrong. Scripture calls it separated or dead to God.

30:42But I can say this, we have not reached the ideal that God has for us, have we? And I'd even venture to say we haven't even achieved our own ideals. In fact, I'll go on to say that we can't, even outside of God's word, figure out what the right ideal ought to be. But what the New Testament does, it presents Jesus as the absolute perfect example of what we ought to be like now, ahead of humanity, that we are to be like.

31:221 John 2:6 says we ought to walk even as he walked. 1 Peter 2, 21 says he left us an example for us to follow. In his steps. But what a staggering idea. We are to be like Christ now. That's our pattern, right? But I think if we're all honest, and let me say as an understatement, I think we all have a confession to make, right? We do not walk as he walked. But we must never cease to affirm that we ought to walk as he walked, right?

32:03And if this were all he came to reveal about himself to us, it would be pitiful, wouldn't it? Here would be this huge standard that we absolutely in no way are going to ever measure up to, right? But the incarnation not only reveals what we ought to be right now, but it also reveals what we're going to be. You want to know what the Spirit of God is doing in your life? It's conforming you to the image of His Son.

32:41So, first, the Incarnation or this revelation of Himself to His people, He came to reveal what we ought to be now. Second, He came to reveal what we will be one day. Listen to 1 John 3:2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared as what. We will be, but we know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him just as he is. Wow, what a beauty. You see him, and just the very fact of seeing him, you are transformed. Now, that's glorious, right?

33:22We've never seen a Christian be all that he ought to be, but we do know upon the authority of his word, when he appears, we will be like him. And that's unbelievable. That you and I are going to be like him. I don't even feel like that's a remote personality, a possibility, right? Or personality, right? That I can, right? Yet, this is exactly what God's word declares: that we're going to be like him. And so, if we're going to be up there, or we're going to be like him up there, we ought to seek to be like him down here, right?

34:11So, we know the place where he's taking us. You want to know what God's will for your life is? Christ-likeness? That's what he's doing. He came to reveal what you're going to be. Now, all of us have different stations of life, we're all different stations. We even are in different seasons of life, but I can promise you, God's will for your station and your season in life right now is Christ-likeness. It's not so much about the job, it's not so much about who you are, where you are, what role you're playing, it's about Christ's likeness in that role and in that place. That's what the Holy Spirit's doing in your life, and He's going to complete that.

35:04There's a third aspect to this revelation of Himself: He came to reveal His present glory to us. Now, sometimes we can get discouraged, right? We can get discouraged looking at this present world, the widespread evil, especially even among those who profess to be Christians, and you see things and entire denominations and powerhouses just compromising Scripture. And we see so many things around us, things get us down. We see even in our own hearts that latent evil that's there.

35:47And so, when we look around, there is much to be discouraged about, right? But God has left us the magical antidote, if you will, for all that discouragement. And in Hebrews 2, 9, he leaves us this vision. You remember in Hebrews 2.6, it says, but one has testified somewhere saying, What is man that you remember him? Or the son of man that you were concerned about him? And what do you care about God? And it says, Then it goes on to say, You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. This one Jesus, who you went to the cross, who died for us, crowned now with glory and honor. You have appointed him over the works of your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in subjecting all things, he's left nothing that is not subject to him, except.

36:57But this, he says this. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him, do we? We see something that's really wrong in the world. But this, in verse 9, but we do see him who is made for a little while lower than the angels, namely Jesus, because of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. So Hebrews is saying, here. Is the one. Look at this picture. Oh, this one crowned in glory and honor, Christ.

37:44So the man Jesus is to be the focus of our attention, not our shortcomings. That's who we're to be looking at. And this vision is going to sweep away all discouragement. Not only does it sweep away discouragement, but it also transforms us more and more into his image. The ideal is beyond our power, for sure. But it's not beyond the power of him who sits upon the throne of grace with all things subject to him. So there's a picture there. The fourth thing about his present glory, he sits, he reigns right now, and he's working all things out according to his good pleasure in his good timing, accomplishing exactly what he wants to do in us, and that is Christ-likeness.

38:49But the fourth thing, this revelation about himself to his people, is he gave us this everlasting revelation of himself. Keep in mind. That the incarnation is not just some transient episode in human history. It's an everlasting reality. The Son took upon flesh and he's never going to put it down again. He didn't unite himself with our humanity and then abandon it. He was resurrected with an incorruptible body that was glorified, and by this, the incarnation of our Lord is an everlasting fact.

39:34The stamp of eternity is upon the body born of a virgin. It's on the hands that were pierced. It's on the brow that wore the crown of thorns. It's the lamb looking as if he had been slain. All of this speaks the stamp of eternity. Colossians 1:15, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. So we will forever relate to the incarnation of our Lord. He will forever be Son of God and Son of man, glorified human flesh.

40:21And you know how we can be sure of this? It's interesting how the book is kind of, the whole Bible is signed. Off. John, in chapter 22, or Revelation chapter 22, verse 16, John the Apostle gives that signatory verse, writing down the words of Jesus. And listen to these words. I Jesus. So he's signing off. Revelation is coming to its conclusion. And here's the signature page. And how does the author sign his name? Does he use the word, I the I am?

41:11Does he use the word I the Lagos? I the wonderful counselor. I the mighty God. I the Christos. No, what word does he use? Look there. I Jesus. I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright and morning star. I Jesus. As a personal reminder, forever we know him as Jesus. It's like the final word from heaven speaks of his incarnation.

42:10So don't ever lose heart. The great God with whom we have to deal with is also Jesus. Very approachable, very knowable, flesh of our flesh, bone of our bones. Well, there you are. Four reasons why God became human. He came to seek his people. He came to die for his people. He came to experience the life of his people. And he came to reveal himself to his people. All this could not have happened without the incarnation and why we celebrate Christmas.

42:53So back on the road, way back there, going back to I'm six years old, left there on the side of the road, family, friends driving down, my thoughts, will they come back for me? Do they love me? Do they want my company? And then what seemed like an eternity, somebody figured out, hey, Tom's not in here. That white pickup truck turned. Around. My mom comes driving back, and somewhere off in the distance on the horizon, I saw a white pickup truck coming.

43:41And in that instant, it spoke volumes, didn't it? A white pickup, a white pickup truck. And it said so much. It said, yes, they were seeking me. Yes, they were. They did love me. Yes. And yes, they wanted my company. All that in a white Ford pickup, just at first glance. Right? I mean, how do you relate a white pickup truck and the incarnation? Well, I just did, right? The incarnation. What do we see in the manger? We see all of that. The baby in the manger is like that white pickup truck coming down the road, and it speaks volumes in a second.

44:35God is seeking us, God is seeking you, God is loving us. God does want our company. It is good news worth celebrating. That incarnation speaks volumes. And I think of no better and more profound moment in human history to celebrate. It is distinctly Christian. It is distinctly for us, the Incarnation. Only we can celebrate the Incarnation. Only we can celebrate Resurrection Day. This is distinct to Christianity. Treasures and blessings, along with all that has been revealed in the Word of God through the prophets and the writings.

45:33It's a great moment to decorate. It's a great moment to exchange gifts as a reflection of the Giver. It's the Incarnation. I can think of no better time to celebrate. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you. We thank you for that manger. We thank you for the baby, you stepping down, and all the volumes that that says about you seeking us, coming after us, you loving us, you desiring relationship with us, you coming, you all of that.

46:22Father, and we, you're tangible, you're knowable. Father, and to this we rejoice. When we celebrate, Father, thank you. Thank you for your gift to us, and may we honor you. Father, not in trivialities or silly things, but with weight and with glory as we come to this Christmas season, Father, may we truly come with a deep sense of awe and reverence of your magnificence and your glory. Father, for truly you are worthy. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.