CHARACTERS AT THE CRADLE
THE SAVIOR
Luke 2:7
And she gave birth to her first born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
What child is this that He should have His own special star in the heavens? What child is this that kings from the east should search for Him and fall down before Him in worship? What child is this that His birth should prompt shepherds to leave their flocks in the fields in order to search for Him? What child is this that angels from the realm of glory should announce His birth? What child is this that, even after two thousand years, people should celebrate His birth? This morning I want to give some answers to this question.
I. HE IS THE CREATOR OF THE WORLD.
When Mark wrote his gospel, he went back only as far as John the Baptist. When Matthew and Luke wrote their gospels, they went back as far as the womb of Mary. But when John wrote his gospel, he went all the way back to creation. He wrote: 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1 3).
In Col. 1:16 17 Paul writes, 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
What child is this? This child is the creator and sustainer of the whole universe. The angels who announced His birth were created by Him and for Him. The star that guided the magi was created by Him and for Him. And it isn’t gravity that holds the universe together, it is He. It is in Him that all things hold together. What does this mean? For one thing, it means that there isn’t one second in any person’s life, from the birth to the grave, when he doesn’t need Jesus Christ.
II. HE IS THE COUNTENANCE OF GOD.
One day Philip said to Jesus, Lord, show us the Father. Jesus responded, He who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:8 9). Hebrews 1:3 says He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature. Paul tells us in Phil. 2:6 that before Jesus came to earth and took on the form of man, He existed in the form of God. He changed forms when He came to earth, but the essence of His being never changed. This is a clear statement of the deity of Christ.
Jesus Christ is God. He is God the Son, of God the Father, whose body was created in Mary’s womb by God the Holy Spirit. Now, let me ask you something. Can you ever be right with God without being right with Jesus Christ? No. Because Jesus Christ is God. This was what Paul discovered on the Damascus Road, that the one thing missing in his relationship with God was the person of Jesus Christ. What child is this? He is the countenance of God.
III. HE IS THE CROWN OF HUMANITY.
In Phil. 2:7 8 Paul says that Jesus was made in the likeness of men and that he was found in appearance as a man. In 1 Tim. 2:5 Paul refers to Him as the man Christ Jesus. Jesus’ favorite term for Himself was Son of Man (Matt. 8:20). Jesus was not only God of very God, He was man of very man. He was a perfect man, and the only perfect man who ever lived. Adam was created innocent but, because of sin, was never perfected. Jesus only is the epitome of what God intended for our humanity. He is the only One about whom the Father ever said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:17).
What does this mean for us? It means that Jesus is the only One Who can make our humanity acceptable to God. Isaiah wrote that all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (64:6). In Rom. 7:18 Paul said, For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. The best fifteen seconds of our humanity isn’t good enough to be acceptable to God.
But listen when you invite Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior, His perfection in you is reckoned by God as the acceptability of your humanity. Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27). In Gal. 2:20 Paul wrote, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. What child is this? He is the crown of humanity, the One who gives our humanity acceptability before God.
IV. HE IS THE CHRIST OF PROPHECY.
When the Magi came to the chief priests and scribes to find where the Christ was to be born they were told, In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet (Matt. 2:5). The truth is that there were many things written by the prophets about the coming of the Messiah, and the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of every one them.
The first Messianic prophecy is in Gen. 3:15, that He would be born of the seed of woman. Genesis 12:3 says He would be a descendant of Abraham. Genesis 49:10 says He would be of the tribe of Judah. Isaiah 11:10 says He would be a descendant of David. Psalm 2:7 says He would be the Son of God. Psalm 16:10 says He would be raised from the dead. Psalms 22 and 69 prophesied concerning His crucifixion. Psalm 41:9 says He would be betrayed by a friend. Psalm 68:18 says He would ascend to heaven. I could go on, but there are too many even to mention this morning.
The point is that Jesus was not a man who just appeared on the scene of history one day and claimed to be the Messiah. He was the absolute and perfect fulfillment of all Messianic prophecy. Remember the Emmaus disciples? Luke says, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27). What child is this? He is the Christ of prophecy.
V. HE IS THE CRUCIFIED FOR ALL PEOPLE.
And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him (Luke 23:33). In 1 Cor. 15:3 Paul says, Christ died for our sins. 1 Pet. 3:18 says, For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God. Romans 5:8: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
"Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary."
What child is this? He is the Lamb of God who was nailed to a cruel Roman cross and poured out His precious blood to pay the penalty of our sins.
"Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary."
VI. HE IS THE CONQUEROR OF ALL FOES.
Jesus never met a demon He couldn’t banish, a disease He couldn’t cure, or a death He couldn’t reverse. He turned water into wine, walked on a stormy sea, and put a muzzle on a howling wind. He conquered the sightlessness of Bartimaeus, the sinfulness of the adulterous woman, the selfishness of Zacchaeus, and the sorrow of Mary and Martha. He conquered lameness, cleansed lepers, opened the ears of the deaf and the mouths of the dumb. And then, praise God, He laid down His own life at the cross and took it up again as the ultimate conqueror of death.
If you are a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, do you know what is true of you? In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us (Rom. 8:37). Do you know what you can say in the face of death? O death, where is your victory? (1 Cor. 15:55). Do you know what you can pray? Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57). Do you know what kind of confidence you can have? Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith (1 John 5:4).
What child is this? He is the conqueror of all the enemies of our lives in Whom we also become more than conquerors.
VII. HE IS THE CROSSROADS FOR THE SINNER.
In Rom. 6:23 Paul says, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. When a lost person hears the gospel, he stands at the greatest crossroads of life that he will ever come to. It is the crossroads where he must decide either to continue on the broad road, the wages of sin and death, or to take the new road, the Kings Highway, the free gift of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Robert Frost described the choices of life in his poem, "The Road Not Taken":
"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Jesus said, I am the way. Jesus is the way to salvation, the way to eternal life, the way to heaven. The tragedy of so many lives is that Jesus is the road not taken. Like the Rich Young Ruler who came to this very crossroads in his life, many choose the wrong direction for their lives and end up at a devastating destination. What child is this? He is the crossroads of the sinner.
VIII. HE IS THE COMMANDER OF THE SAINT.
IX. HE IS THE CLIMAX OF HUMAN HISTORY.
When Jesus came to earth the first time, He came in meekness. When Jesus comes again, He will come in might. He came the first time as the Redeemer. He will come again as the reaper. He came the first time as child in a manger. He will come again as the King of Kings on a cloud of glory. When Jesus came the first time, there were a few who bowed their knees and confessed that He was Lord. When He comes again, every knee will bow and every tongue will
confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
(Matt 24:29 31) 29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Paul writes in Eph. 1:10 that there will be a summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things upon the earth. What child is this? He is the climax of human history.
X. HE IS THE CRITERION OF JUDGMENT.
(Acts 17:30 31) And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Pilate asked, What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? (Matt. 27:22). The question of judgment will be, "What did you do with Jesus who is called Christ?" Did you believe in Him? Did you receive Him into your life? Did you surrender your life to His Lordship? What child is this? There are many answers, but the most critical answer for the individual who must one day stand before the Judge of all the earth, is that Jesus is the criterion of judgment. Do you know Him now as your Savior and Lord?
There are so many other things we could say this morning. What child is this? He is the peace of life, the purpose of life, the power of life, the pattern of life, the passion of life, the pursuit of life. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:5).
