Text: Luke 1:26-37
This morning We will begin a four week Christmas Journey as we unwrap some Truths about Why Did Jesus Come? Why Did Jesus Come, and I will unwrap four different reasons that Jesus came to us and what that means for us as we prepare to celebrate His coming.
Are you getting ready for Christmas? Are you starting to feel that Christmas Spirit? By the way the true Christmas Spirit is His Spirit, not what I read about on CNN yesterday, where a shopper was actually knocked unconscious by the rush of people running into the store... actually stepping on her......that’s not the Christmas Spirit.... fighting over gifts and stepping on people along the way....... I want to challenge you this season to do your best to set your focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas and try to incorporate the true meaning of Christmas into your family gatherings this year....... Read the Christmas story to your kids and tell them why we buy gifts........ take every opportunity to remind yourself and your children why we as Christians celebrate this great holiday... it sure has nothing to do with how much we spend... amen?
Have you ever thought about Why Did Jesus Come? All of us amateur theologians could probably come up with quite a few answers to that question..... so I want you to know that I realize that there are more than four reasons... but I’m going to just pick four to share with you....
Why Did Jesus Come? In our scripture this morning we have read how God delivered the news of His plan to this unsuspecting young lady, Mary.
Can I tell you something? When Gabriel, God’s General of the Angelic forces shows up on your door step to bring you greetings...... You can know something big is about to happen. Can you imagine the thoughts going through Mary’s mind, and the adrenaline pumping through her veins as this angel of the Lord stood before her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
I would be like.... “Boy, I’m glad he is saying nice things to me.... I would hate it if he was here in a bad mood.” I think Gabriel probably makes Gov. Swartzenieger look kind of puny don’t you? But he brought good news and Mary was glad.
The Scripture says that she was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this was..... I think our writer Luke, who was a Doctor by trade, and who is known for writing the facts and in a very detailed way, probably couldn’t fully describe her feelings.... to say she was troubled probably didn’t do it justice.. but the Bible says that Gabriel tried to calm her nerves..... “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”
I want to stop right there for a minute this morning and tell you the first reason that I believe that Jesus came......He came as a Baby which is an amazing thing if you think about how vulnerable He made himself......But even before Christ is born, I think we are getting a glimpse of Why God was sending His Son into the World and it’s found in this statement by God messenger Gabriel.....knowing that Mary was scared and frightened.... God calls Mary by name.... “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”
Write this down in your notes... This is Reason number one...... This is why He came as a Baby..... God wants to Identify With You. God wants to be on a personal, intimate level with His creation.... What better way than to join his creation as one of them?
I wonder if we really understand God’s desire to be in fellowship with us, personally.
Relationships can only be intimate, personal when we can look each other in the face, when we can hold each other, shake hands, have meals together.... there’s no other way.
My sister lives 20 hours away in Pierre, SD, and we are lucky if we are able to see them one time a year. I remember when Misty had her first baby girl, Teya... we congratulated her and told her how much we missed her and wanted to see her.... we saw some pictures of Teya as she started getting bigger.... but it wasn’t until we were able to hold Teya and love on her, and see her make her faces and make noises, and all the things babies do... it wasn’t until we got face to face that we really felt like we knew her... and could say we were apart of her life.
God understood our need to see someone face to face, so He planned a face to face meeting when He sent His Son, Jesus. What’s even more amazing to me is that God sent Jesus as a Baby.... A Baby..... The King of Kings.... the Creator of all that is.... is lying in a manger with a diaper on and can’t even change himself... he is totally dependent upon his human parents for their care and protection.
A Baby.... Can you imagine all the options that God could have thought of, of all the ways that God could have picked to bring about the salvation of mankind... of all those ways He choose to send His only Son to us in the form of a baby.....
That brings us back to Mary....... Mary is maybe 14 years old, maybe younger than that. Mary does not come from a wealthy family, she is a peasant girl who has a pure heart and loves God. Mary was engaged to Joseph, another hard working person, a carpenter. Mary was a virgin, and the reason that is important is because God wanted everyone to know that His Son was born of divine intervention..... and was not born by the act of man, but by the act of God.
So Mary is confronted by Gabriel.... she’s a little troubled to say the least... and what does God have his messenger do?
He calls her by name.... Don’t be afraid, Mary.
One of the reasons that God sent Jesus as a baby was so that He could identify with us on a personal level.. so that He could have a personal, intimate relationship with us... in fact, Genesis tells us that we were created in His image... Why? So that we could have fellowship with Him... so that we could Worship Him... So that we could talk to Him.... So that He could talk to us......
Do you understand the awesome truth that God..... the one who created you.... He knows your name..... He desires more than anything in the world to have this personal, intimate relationship with you.... A Face to face Relationship where you can talk to him at any time, and when He talks to you..... you hear Him.
Can I tell you something this morning?
I think there are alot of Christians who are missing the Best part of being a Christian. You see, being a Christian is so much more than getting saved.... that’s just the first step, that’s just the beginning bell to a eternity long journey.
How many people would buy a sharp knife and call themselves a surgeon? There’s alot more to it than that right? You don’t buy yourself a paintbrush and call yourself an Artist, do you? There’s alot more to learn, you have to grow, you have be taught, you have to learn the disciplines to become what your trying to become......
This is true in the Christian life.... It happens in a moment of time when you repent of your sins and you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and by Faith you are saved... and you are born again.... you are a baby in the spiritual sense, but there’s so much more that has to happen for you to grow strong in your faith, for you to survive in this world....
One of the most basic things that must happen in your life is that you need to have a personal, face to face type of relationship with Christ..... where you pray, you talk to Him, and you listen to what He says to you..... where your learning from the Word his teachings, his principles, his commands.... and as you learn from the Word... you apply that truth to your life... you grow as a Christian... you grow in your relationship with Him.
Parents...... How many of you talk to your children the same way that you talked to them when they were 6 months old? My girls are 10 years old.... but you won’t find me holding them in my arms making funny faces and funny noises like I did when they were six months old.... why not? Well, for one thing they have grown and I couldn’t hold them in my arms anymore..... another reason is that they have grown up and they need me to talk to them differently... they want to be treated not like a baby but like a young person.
I have expectations for my girls that there’s no way I could have for them when they were just babies... they can take on more responsibilities, they have more freedom.....
This is true in our relationship with God..... as we grow.... God’s expectations for us will continue to change, but we must be willing to grow.... if we decide not to feed and be nourished by His Word, and through prayer.... our relationship will die.... We will neglect it and by doing so choose to lose.
How’s your relationship today? Is it personal... is it growing? God’s desire is to be personal with you, face to face... in a interactive, growing relationship that will be exciting, challenging, and full of opportunity.
One of the saddest things that I have seen over and over again is that person who has stopped growing as a Christian a long time ago, but because they attend church, and maybe they hold a position in the church, they think they are a Christian based on their activity, based on their loyalty to the church.
I’ve had people on my church board who had been in the church for years... and they were the most miserable, most carnal, selfish people you would ever want to meet. They hadn’t produced fruit of the spirit for years.... they were as dead as dead can be and guess what?
They think because they attend church every Sunday, because they put their tithe in every week, because they teach here, or serve there, or because they give extra to Missions.... or whatever it might be..... they think they are Christian... But they no more have an up to date relationship with Jesus Christ than the car they drove to church......
And the truth is friends, they are in more danger than the person who has never walked into the church... do you know why? They think there OK.
Friends, if your miserable in your Christian life... if your not happy and you don’t feel the presence of God in your life, if you don’t Love people... I encourage you today to seek God and tell Him you need a Face to face meeting, you want to know Him personally... you don’t want to go through the motions of just doing church.... But you want to Know Him..... and You want Him to Know You... and Have all of you.
Why Did Jesus Come? He came so He could call you by Name.... so You could Identify with Him and know that He stepped into time and space... why? So he could save us from our sins and give us the opportunity to be in this Love relationship that I’ve described.
Are you in Love with Jesus today? If your not a Christian this morning.... that may sound funny.... But if your a Christian......You know what it means to be in Love with Christ... He’s your everything... He’s your King... He’s your Friend.... He’s your Teacher... He’s your Savior............. Is that how you describe your Christian Life.... it can be.... it’s not to late to fall in love with Jesus... What better time of the year to discover the Christ Child.....
Lets stand together this morning.... We are going to close with an opportunity for you to respond to this message..... if all we do is listen but we don’t respond in some way, what good is it? If God has spoken to you in any way today... come forward and talk to Him about it..... maybe you just want to get closer than you are... come... maybe your ready for that Face to face meeting.... today can be the day of your salvation.... Come..
