Sermon Central
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The Wonder Of Christ's Birth
Contributed by Ray Ellis on Dec 8, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: Why was the time when Jesus was born the right time? Why did God choose the land of Palestine as the birth place of Jesus? Why was 5 BC the year Jesus was born and not some other year?
The Wonder of Christ’s Birth
-In the Fullness of Time-
The story is told about a man who got tired of the Christmas hoopla. All the frantic haste and the crass commercialism disgusted him. So, he decided not to go along with the crowd. Among other things, he decided not to send Christmas cards, feeling that the expense and effort were non-productive. For the first ten days of December he felt good about his decision. But then, as the mail brought him greetings from friends near and far, he began to feel more and more guilt about sending no cards. Finally, four days before Christmas, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He rushed down to the drug store and grabbed the only box of cards still on the shelf. He bought it, purchased stamps, rushed home, and addressed cards frantically all evening. He addressed 49 cards. He had one card left over which he tossed on the mantle. That very evening he drove down to the post office and mailed the cards.
The next day he was strolling through the house and happened to see that extra card on the mantle. Suddenly it occurred to him that he had addressed and signed all those cards but had not actually read what the card said. So, he grabbed the card and took a look. This is what it said:
"This cheery card has come to say: A gift from us is on the way."
The whole meaning of the Advent season prior to Christmas is this: a gift from God is on the way. The basic reason we offer Christmas gifts to each other is to honor and reflect the only perfect gift ever offered--the gift of God through a Bethlehem baby named Jesus.
People tend to gravitate to one of two camps concerning Christmas. There are those who say, "I just love this time of year. I wish it could last all year long." There are others who say, "I can’t wait for Christmas to be done so we can get busy with life again." I suppose it’s all a matter of how we look at things.
A lady was traveling home from a business trip. She went into a gift shop at the airport and bought a newspaper and some chocolate chip cookies. She sat down and opened her newspaper, ready to read. A guy sat across from her and placed his briefcase on the table between the two of them. The lady grabbed a cookie from the middle of the table, popped it into her mouth, and continued reading. She reached back down to get another one and noticed that he moved the cookies closer to himself and continued to eat. She heard the wrestling of the cellophane in time to see the guy taking the last chocolate chip cookie out of the package. She glared at him with all her anger. He seemed embarrassed and broke the cookie in half and offered her some. Upset, she moved to the other side of the waiting area. She continued to brood over this event until sometime into her flight home, when she reached into her bag for a pen out and noticed her unopened bag of chocolate chip cookies. It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it? It’s all a matter of how we see things.
William Barclay once said, "In a world that’s bent on getting, the Christian must be bent on giving, for we know that what we keep we lose, and what we give we have."
Galatians 4:4-5 says: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
Why was the time when Jesus was born the right time? Why did God choose the land of Palestine as the birth place of Jesus? Why was 5 BC the year Jesus was born and not some other year?
In the fullness of time, when the time was right Jesus came. God created the first human couple, Adam and Eve and Bible scholars estimate that by 3000 BC the world population was 100 million.
Abraham lived 2166 to 1991 BC --- Moses lived 1526-1406 and during his time Genesis was written. --- King David reigned over Israel 1010 to 997 BC – Isaiah served as prophet 740 – 680 BC ---Minor prophets (Joel to Malachi) were active from 800 BC to 500 BC – Jesus was born 5 BC and his death and resurrection took place 30 AD. The Apostle John became a disciple of Jesus AD 26, and wrote Revelation – sometime between AD 90 – 96.
From Genesis to Revelation there is a time span of 1,500 years
I. Jesus Came At Just the Right Time
