What Would The Angels Say About Christmas?

What Would the Angels Say About Christmas?

Dec. 11, 2005 FBC, Chester Mike Fogerson, Pastor

Introduction:

A Review

1 Santa (focus & faith)

2 Satan (virgin birth & peace)

3 Angels

a 3 accounts

b But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matt 1:20-21 (NASB)

And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." 34 Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. Luke 1:28-35 (NASB)

And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." Luke 2:9-14 (NASB)

B Three folks the angels appeared to:

1 Joseph

a Pregnant fiancee

b Wondering & waiting-angels give a message of God

2 Mary & shepherds

a 15-year-old girl...God’s doing what?

b An angelic choir-thousands, millions?

3 They all brought a message

a God’s message, not theirs

b The angels are the equivalent of a heavenly FedEx

c Christ to come

C What would these heavenly FedEx folks tell us today?

1 Times have changed

a Communicate, travel, clothes, culture, etc.

b The message stays the same because Jesus is the same today & forever

2 He’s still the answer to our greatest need

a The message hasn’t changed because Jesus hasn’t changed!

b (TS) Let’s look at these accounts more closely & notice 3 announcements the angels would make if they would speak to us this morning.

I The first announcement the angels would make is that...Jesus is the Son who was.

A In the beginning God had promised to send humankind a Redeemer. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." Gen 3:15 (NASB)

1 The Old Testament is filled with over 300 references of the Messiah (Redeemer) which were fulfilled in Jesus.

a God did not want there to be any confusion on the identity of the "Son of the Highest"

aa Virgin birth (Is. 7:14, Matt. 1:18)

bb Descendent of Abraham (Gen. 18:18, Acts 3:25)

cc Tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10, Luke 3:33)

dd Throne of David (Is. 9:7, Luke 1:32-33)

ee Born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2, Matt. 2:1)

ff 30 pieces of silver (Zec. 34:20, John 19:33)

gg Vicarious suffering (Is. 53:4-5, Matt. 8:16-17)

b Jesus was the fulfillment of the first promise in Gen. 3:15!

2 Jesus was not God’s idea of just seeing how creative He was (virgin birth-hats off!)

a Jesus came because we’re dead, lost, & hopelessly condemned to suffer God’s wrath/judgment of sin.

b God sent His Son so the people He came to save could mock, beat, & crucify Him to pay for their sins & ours.

B Over 300 references in the Old Testament about the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus.

1 1 in 10 to the 7th power or 100,000,000,000,000,000 chance for 1 man to fulfill 8 of them!