“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house….” These make great words for a great story to tell our children. In fact, I’ll read my kids this book tonight before bed, but these words are only a story. What is presented for us this evening is not a story, but it is the account of our Lord’s birth, something that is factual, not just a story to tell.
Everything begins some 2700 years ago. We have a great man of his day, a prophet by the name of Isaiah. Isaiah was a respected man, a wise man by many standards. He was tasked with a job that few were tasked with and Isaiah did his job exactly as God had desired. The job that was given to Isaiah was to proclaim a promise that was given hundreds of year before Isaiah lived. This promise had to do with the promised Messiah, the Savior who would defeat sin, death, and the devil.
The prophecy of Isaiah was this: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This was the promise that Israel had been living for for generations, ever since God made the promise to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This was their hope of salvation and it was what they clung to because they knew there was nothing they could ever do to earn their salvation.
Talk about waiting! We’re not talking a few years. We’re talking hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. And that was just until Isaiah speaks his prophecy of the Messiah. The Messiah hasn’t even arrived yet and yet, He is already here. That is the jewel about the promises of God. As soon as it is spoken, even though it has not yet happened, it has happened. While it may sound confusing, it really is not. When God declares something is going to happen, namely here, the sending of the Messiah to destroy sin, death, and the devil, then it is as good as done because if God says it will happen, then it will happen.
God’s promises are the complete opposite of our promises. When we make a promise, we may say that we intend to keep it, but there really is no guarantee that we will keep it. When God makes a promise, there is no doubt that God will keep His promise. Tonight, the promise is kept.
As we look at Matthew’s Gospel this evening, we see the prophecy from Isaiah come to fruition. An angel of God speaks to Joseph and declares, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” These words were spoken to Joseph to assure him that his betrothed wife had not committed adultery. These words were spoken to reassure all of God’s people that God would keep His promise that He made in days of old. And so Matthew ends his account with Jesus’ birth: “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
And so we have arrived here. We come to gather around Christ, our newborn King. We have this wonderful gift in Jesus Christ that should be our focus but yet we find ourselves focused on things of this world rather than on the gift of salvation that we have received in Jesus Christ. It’s ok; it’s to be expected because of our sinful nature. We turn to the world before we turn to God, thinking that the world will provide what we need the most – forgiveness from our sins and salvation. But the world cannot provide that. The only One who can provide salvation is God our heavenly Father, and He does so by His Son, Jesus Christ.
That’s where our text from 1 John comes into play. John writes, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
The sum of this evening comes down to love. It is the love of God that He has for us, His creation, that is the impetus for the birth of Jesus. Due to man’s sin, we could no longer stand in the presence of a sinless God. We were cast out of Eden, separated from God. But a promise was made. Salvation would enter God’s creation and creation would be restored to its rightful place as God’s beloved. To make that possible, God would send Jesus into the world, “so that we might live through him.” Because of Christ, it is possible for us to have life with God.
This little child that comes to two lowly parents named Mary and Joseph, is more than any could imagine, more than any would expect. God’s promise made back in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve at man’s fall into sin has been fulfilled. It was fulfilled in a way that was in keeping with God’s divine plan.
This Son born to Joseph and Mary is the Son born to all creation, to you and to me. It is the Son born to live a sinless life in your place. It is the Son born to die in your place. It is the Son born to be raised from the dead. It is the Son “born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.” This Child whose birth we are preparing to celebrate is like no other child that ever has been, is, or ever will be. This is the very Son of God made flesh for you. This is the very Son of God who came to take your sins upon Himself. This is Jesus, the Lord saves. Jesus came into the world not merely to save one particular people or race. He came to save the crowd, the whole crowd, all the people, the people as a nation. He came to save you. He is the Messiah that the prophet Isaiah had foretold hundreds of years before; He is Immanuel, God with us.
It is indeed a merry Christmas, not because of a jolly fat man in a red suit, but because of a little baby that is born with the name of Jesus, who comes as the gift of all gifts, whose very life grants everlasting life to all who believe. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.