Wonderful Christmas

[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another word-filled message by David Entry. Preaching is the means by which God manifests His word and nourishes our spirits. May the life of God enter into you and you as you listen to this message. Be blessed.

[0:19] We want to talk about Christmas today. Wonderful Christmas. How many of you believe Christmas is wonderful? Some of you don't think it is. Depends on what you mean by wonderful.

[0:32] But I believe Christmas is wonderful because it is filled with wonders. The story of Christmas is filled with wonders. That is the story that makes it wonderful, not the celebration or the carnival aspect of it that makes it wonderful.

[0:50] So Christmas, the story is full of wonders. It's mysterious. The story we have in Christmas is such an amazing story.

[1:02] Such a wonder-filled story. It's mysterious or it carries mystery. 1 Timothy 3.16 says that, Then he begins to explain, God was manifested in the flesh.

[1:24] That is a serious issue. Great, without controversy, Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, Seen by angels, preached amongst Gentiles, Believed on in the world, received up into glory.

[1:43] Great is the mystery. And Christmas brings to light the mystery of godliness. Christianity does not have any significance outside of the intervention of god into humanity.

[1:57] So the foundation, the basis of Christianity, in spite of any other thing they may say, people may say, Christianity has not got any relevance or it does not mean anything outside of the fact that god stepped into time and became one of us.

[2:17] That is the crux of Christianity, the crux of Christmas. The center of Christianity is about outside of that, outside that, Christianity really doesn't mean square. Christianity is not just about loving one another.

[2:29] No! It's more than that! You don't need to be a Christian to love. You can love without being a Christian. You remember the way you laughed to him? There are different types of love.

[2:42] There is the stoige, the philio, the agape, and the eros. So maybe that's just eros type of love and eros love is not really love.

[2:53] Really? Yes. But you said it's about love. So any love can feel it. He said that for God so loved the world that he gave. The key is not just his love, but the fact that he gave his only begotten son.

[3:06] The giving of his begotten son, stepping into humanity, is what makes the difference. First of all, before I go further into the main point, I think I just need to make a few points.

[3:16] I'll mention a few things about Christmas itself, where it's coming from. The festival, it's a festival, okay, and it's actually, it started before Jesus was born. Just that it wasn't called Christmas.

[3:27] It was way before Jesus was born. In Europe, they were celebrating, Northern Europe had the Yule, and Southern Europe had the Sartanalia.

[3:40] So they were celebrating this festival. They used to do this, and the Yule, as we have the Yule log, and it was like mid-winter festival.

[3:52] And it's usually, really the celebration of the birth of the sun, S-U-N, right after winter solstice. Winter solstice is usually 21st, December, when the, we have two solstices, when the pole, the North Pole, or the South Pole, is very far, tilts very far, from the sun, farthest from the sun, and that's when we have the longest night and the shortest day in the year.

[4:23] So right afterwards, the days afterwards, the nights are not that long as the 21st, usually. So that is the longest night, and then afterwards, it's like mid-winter, afterwards, the sun begins to, the daylight or sun begins to, kind of, is beginning to appear early.

[4:42] So the celebrations, the festival is characterized with orgies, revelries, celebration, and people are free to, they reverse social order.

[4:55] In those days, you, masters will have to serve their servants, and it's usually for 12 days, till 6th of January, when the lights come down. All right, so it's from 25th, December, 12 days, on the 12th day of Christmas, my true love, the true love is not Jesus, it's true love.

[5:12] You have to, around that time, you are free to eat as much as you can. So it's, it's, it's a season where, um, the social order, social order is reversed, masters serve, um, their servants, and not just that, the, food, that's the season, you have to eat as much as you can.

[5:35] Eat, eat, eat so much, and fill your tummy so much, and, and, not just that, so, freedom, social restrictions on eating, is, taking off, gambling.

[5:49] So, freedom, gambling, um, and it's still, it's still practiced in the form of shopping, and, freedom of, someone you've, you've been spotting in the year.

[6:01] One good thing about, the, the festival, and, the, celebration was more about how, the rich will also give to the poor.

[6:13] So, people who didn't have much to eat, that's the time where, we try and give stuff to them. I'm talking about the Yule, and the, um, Sartanalia. All right.

[6:23] Then, Pope Gregory sends, St. Augustine, to, United Kingdom, or Britain, to be his representative.

[6:34] He actually converted a lot of people, and his, the, the, I think the king at that time, even started going to church. He tried to convert everybody, but people got converted, but not their Christmas, not their festival.

[6:48] So, he was trying to get them to change, and come to church, and stop this thing, and let's do, he couldn't, he wasn't successful. So, he calls the, the Pope, and tells him that, I've done everything, but this thing, they can't, they won't give it, they won't give it, because it was, the public mood for, the festivities was so high, you can't change them.

[7:07] You can't stop it. So, he said, well, I can't do anything about it. Pope Gregory said, if you can't change them, join them. So, join them, and baptize Christmas, into Christianity, and have a special mass, every Christmas day.

[7:21] Now, Christmas day, the reason why they did it, Christmas day is, Jesus was not born, on the 25th of December, okay? He wasn't born, on the 25th of December, but, it was a period, of the birth of the, because, the longest night was over, so now the sun, is going to now, show up again.

[7:37] So, it's like the sun, has been born again, the birth of the sun. So, okay, let's change it. Instead of the birth of the S-U-N, let's make it the birth of the S-O-N. And then, so they chose 25th December, and then, they have to, it used to be, a special mass, you know, Catholic call it a mass.

[7:52] So, let's do it, a mass for Christ, so Christ mass. So, that's how, they had to bring it, into Christianity, and made it, a birthday. So, okay, let's give Christ to like, the Christmas, is like, his ceremonial birthday.

[8:05] So, that is how, Christmas became part of, Christianity. So, really, it's supposed to be, about Christ, and, much of it, really, is not really about Christ, when, we look at the festivities, around us, and, a lot of things happen, in our society, and how about the Santa Claus?

[8:27] All right, a lot of things happen, a lot of things happen, in our society, that has not got anything, to do with Christ, like the wreath, what, what, what has that got to do?

[8:38] The, the lights, because when he was born, only one light was shining. Now, there are so many lights everywhere. The, let me tell you about Santa Claus, before I go on, to the real Christmas, what, what, do you want to hear, about the Santa Claus?

[8:53] There, there, is, there was, this story about, it's actually originated, from Holland. They were fascinated, about the story, of this saint, Saint Nicholas, who was so good, he was a good man, kind man, and the story, about Saint Nicholas, was that, in Turkey, there was a family, a very poor family, with three beautiful girls, who could not marry.

[9:21] And, why couldn't they marry? In those days, if you want, if you have to marry, is the girls, the girls, that paid the dowry. And, and, their dad was so poor, they didn't have money, and so they couldn't get married.

[9:43] And, they were living there, and Saint Nicholas, knew about it. So, he decided to help them, and he smuggled, gold coin, into their home. How did he do?

[9:53] It didn't come through the chimney. He, he wrapped it in a cloth, and then threw it, through the window, into their home. And, they found it, and, they were very happy, and because of that, those girls, were able to get married.

[10:08] They got enough money, to get married. And, it fascinated this, this, the Dutch, so much, that it became, a, major story, during Christmas, and, they, Santa, Saint, Santa, Claus, Nicholas, they shot him in Claus.

[10:27] And, then, the, the New Yorkers, made the Santa Claus, and gave him the, the red, with the whites, whatever. And, it's very interesting, that the personality, the central figure, of Christmas, is more, bending towards, Santa Claus, than Christ.

[10:47] He should be, the personality, the, the central character, of Christmas. But no, in the festivities, and all this, it's more about, Santa Claus. And so, what the Christian, had to do, we had a choice, we had a choice, either, to just cut off, from this whole, Christmas thing, and just stay with, what is Christian, or, we take it, and rescue the Christ, from it.

[11:14] To rescue, or clean Christmas up, so we can have, our Christ back. Or, tidy it up. Because, actually, in the first, four centuries, the Christ, the church celebrated, the resurrection of Christ, never the birth.

[11:31] It wasn't, the birth of Christ, was not celebrated, by the church. It was the resurrection, that they celebrated. But, after, after, the fourth century, when, Emperor Constantine, made Christianity, the, the state religion, that's when, all these things, started coming in.

[11:49] And, they have to embrace, Christmas, and made it part, of Christianity. But, we need to rescue, Christ from Christmas. It's, necessary, we, get, Christ, back into Christmas, or tidy it up, and make it, about Christ.

[12:07] let's, let's not, mix Christ, with, all that comes, with Christmas. Let's, separate Christ, from all that comes, with Christmas.

[12:19] There is, let's talk about, the birth of Christ, which is, very interesting. That should be, the center of Christmas. Should be at the center, of Christmas.

[12:29] Bible, talks about, in the beginning, was the word. Now, all the, all the, three or four gospels, the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, what are the gospels?

[12:43] One more time, please. All the four gospels, spoke, I mean, the gospels, are practically, about Christ. And, so, they had to speak, about, his.

[12:56] They had to speak, about, all of them, started, Christ from somewhere. Mark, started talking about Christ, from his baptism. Because, that is when, his public ministry started.

[13:09] So, Mark, the gospel according to Mark, starts from, when he was baptized. And, Matthew said, no, that's not good enough. Let's, let's, let's start from Abraham.

[13:20] Let's, trace him from, to Abraham. So, Matthew comes, and traces, traces, Christ to Abraham. So, it's not far enough. His, his baptism, is not far enough.

[13:33] Let's start, from, Abraham. So, when you read Matthew, Matthew talks about, the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Then, he begins to give, the genealogy of Christ, from Abraham.

[13:47] Matthew chapter one, from verse two. But then when, then Luke comes in, and Luke says that, Abraham is not far enough. Let's take him to Adam. Thank you. Right.

[13:58] Because, he's a human being. So, he must be traceable to Adam. So, Luke traces, his genealogy, to Adam. And he ends, Luke chapter three, verse 38, he said, and he ends with, Adam, the son, the son of Enoch, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

[14:15] This is the genealogy of Jesus, being traced, straight to Adam. But John says that, no, Adam, Adam is not, enough. John says that, let's trace him, to before everything started.

[14:26] So, John comes on the scene, and John says that, you know what, in the beginning, because the farther the human mind can go, is from the beginning. You can't go past, before the beginning.

[14:38] Before everything existed. Before anything became something. How can you think farther than that? So, the human mind could not capture anything farther than that. So, John said, alright, even though he was before the beginning, actually, the Greek word sounds like this, in the deathless, past.

[14:57] So, not when it was beginning. It's like, before everything began, was the word. So, John says, no, let's take him from, in the beginning, was the word.

[15:08] Now, he didn't say, in the beginning, the word began. The word didn't begin in the beginning. It began before the beginning. So, actually, the word didn't have a beginning. He said, in the beginning, was the word.

[15:21] No, that's the Christian, it is very serious. In the beginning, something that was not created, that was not made, was before everything that was created.

[15:32] And yet, everything that was created, what had to be created, through this thing that was not created, and had self-existence. So, let's all read from, John chapter one, from this one.

[15:42] Let's go from the screen. In the beginning, was the word. And the word, was with God. And the word, was God. Interesting. So, the word, was with God, is, theologically, it's like, it was face to face with God, the same with God.

[15:56] Alright, so, in the beginning, was the word. The word, was with God. And the word, was God. This is very important. So, the word, was, the, the, the conundrum here, is that, how can the word, be with, and at the same time, is.

[16:13] The word, was with God. If he was with God, then he is not God. Because God is here, and he is here. He was with God.

[16:24] But it says that, the word, was with God, and the word, was God. But, what has this got to do, with Christmas? Christmas celebrates, when, verse two, let's go to it.

[16:37] He was in the beginning, with God, verse three, all things were made, through him, and without him, nothing was made, that was made. All right.

[16:48] In him is life, and the life, is the light. In him was light, and the light, was the light, of men. The light shines, in darkness, and darkness, cannot overcome it.

[17:00] Hallelujah. Amen. But what is interesting here, is that, Bible says that, this word, which was in the beginning, through whom, everything came to exist, one day, decided to become, one of the everything, that existed.

[17:16] So, verse 14 says, look at verse 14. Let's already out loud, from the screen. Let's go. One more time, that line, let's read it again.

[17:30] Let's read it out louder. That is, that is the, that is the mystery, of Christmas. The wonder of Christmas.

[17:41] The word, became, flesh. Come on, what kind of flesh, is that then? What, what kind of, the flesh, the word, became flesh, not passed through, and dwelt amongst us.

[17:54] So, guess what? As we are going, and coming, he was also going, and coming. He was with us, eating our food, drinking our drink, everything like us. The, it is, the wonder of creation, the wonder of Christmas, is about, how the creator, decided to wrap himself, with creation, and came, and lived, as creation.

[18:16] Now, watch this. Jesus Christ, being the second person, of the Trinity, in his incarnation, I need you to listen to, incarnation means, when he became a human being, okay? That's when I hear, incarnation, he became a human being.

[18:29] Jesus Christ, in his incarnation, did not, lose, anything he already had, as God.

[18:40] but, he, he, started to become, what he wasn't. All right, yeah, that's the Christmas story, yeah, that's the Christmas story, that's the Christmas story.

[18:55] In the incarnation, Jesus Christ, the second person, of the Trinity, did not, cease, okay, did not cease, to become, what he was, eternally. So, he was something, eternally, what was he, eternally, eternally, from John chapter 1, verse 1?

[19:08] Some of you, don't like this kind of things. What was in the beginning? What was in the beginning? And what, what do you know, about the word?

[19:21] The word was God. And then he says, that the word, became flesh. So, that, he says, the word, did not cease, to be, to be, what he already, was eternally.

[19:32] You are talking about, eternity, before time began. He didn't cease, to be, he didn't cease, to be, what he already was. But, he began, to become, what he wasn't.

[19:44] What wasn't he? He wasn't, he wasn't created. He wasn't a creature. But, when he became, a fetus, in Mary's womb, he became, a creature. And yet, watch this, the mysteries, and yet, he was, still, the word.

[20:01] That's the thing. He, he still, was, the word, and yet, now, has become, a fetus. In, a human womb, and a virgin, how can a virgin, be pregnant?

[20:14] That's another problem, another wonder, of Christmas. Oh, don't take it lightly. Think about it. A virgin, become pregnant, last Thursday, I was telling you. You know, there are these, liberal theologians, who, the theological word, is, the, de-mythologized scripture.

[20:33] So, de-mythologized scripture, is to like, Adam and Eve, God created, Eve, by taking, so no, no, you can't think about that now. It's not, they ate the fruit, of the tree, no, no, it's not just a fruit.

[20:44] Is it? So, they try and, water it down, and make it so, the, red sea part, it's not, no, red sea can't just part, it was just an extreme wind, that blew by the side.

[20:55] You know, you know what I'm talking about. The sun, the sun is too sealed. No, no, the sun does not move. It's the, it's the, it's the, the earth, that moves. So, if you say the sun's too, the sun can't stand.

[21:07] The, the, the, just that, it looked like the sun has stopped moving, but, it was because, the people were under intense pressure. So, they had stress, they were stressed. They were, they were stressed.

[21:20] What, have you ever seen the earth moving before? But, don't you see the sun moving? So, as it appears to the naked eye, we see the sun rising, and the sun setting.

[21:31] So, it is just human technology to describe how things appear. It doesn't mean scientifically, that's exactly how it is. Have you ever seen evaporation, condensation, and, and, and precipitation, and then, yeah, have you seen precipitation in the clouds before?

[21:49] No, but it does happen. Does that make sense? All right. So, they will say that, the, the virgin really wasn't a virgin, because there are times the Bible uses the word, virgin, to mean, an unmarried woman.

[22:02] There are times, so, I think in 1st Corinthians, or 2nd Corinthians, if you can, if you can control yourself about your virgin, marry her. All right. So, virgin. Let's all say virgin. Virgin.

[22:13] A virgin birth. How can a virgin be pregnant? God said, the Bible said, in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, it said, God himself will give you a sign.

[22:26] Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, in other words, this is a wow factor. Behold, a virgin shall conceive. Watch this.

[22:37] You mean a virgin conceiving? It's not scientific. Now, the word used virgin, this word used virgin, in the scripture, in the Hebrew, it's actually been used in a few places in Hebrew, which actually means, a woman who hasn't known a man.

[22:52] So, it doesn't mean, a woman who is not married. It means, a woman who hasn't known a man. In the Greek version, Luke chapter 1, verse 26, the angel appeared to a virgin.

[23:04] The angel, Gabriel was sent, to a city of Nazareth, verse 27, to a virgin. That Greek word translated, virgin, is not like a woman who is not married.

[23:15] It's a woman who has not been known. So, Bible says that, a virgin shall conceive, Isaiah. For God will give you a sign, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and you shall call his name, Emmanuel.

[23:32] A virgin? Virgins don't conceive. Yes, there is an extreme biological situation, where, in rare case scenario, very extreme, a woman can conceive, without the involvement of a man, medically speaking.

[23:52] It happens in some plants, and, is it, Komodo dragon, they also, it's rare amongst animals, it's very extreme.

[24:05] But, amongst human beings, according to, some, top scientists, and professors, it's happened about six times, amongst human beings, since time began. Six times.

[24:16] Where, women, who, women got pregnant, without the involvement of a man. And, as I told you, scientifically, it's called pathogenesis.

[24:27] Okay. Pathogenesis, where a woman, and it's rare. And, in all those cases, as I told you, in all those cases, the children that were born with, could only be girls. You can't give that to a male, because women's, have this, um, X chromosome, they don't have Y chromosome.

[24:46] It's, the Y comes from the man. So, if a woman's egg, begins to develop, or multiply by itself, to form another, it will end up forming another, X, X, X, X, X chromosome, that will give you a woman, a female.

[25:00] But, to get a male, you need the, you need a Y, sorry, you need a Y from the man, I'm sorry. But, in this particular case, it said, a virgin shall conceive, and give birth, to a son.

[25:13] So, that means that, Isaiah, that means that, for some reason, somebody else, must have been involved. Now, the mystery of, the virgin birth, see, listen, listen, listen, the whole thing about, Jesus Christ's arrival, the mystery is not so much, about his birth, but it's about the conception.

[25:35] The mystery. It's about the, how can a virgin conceive? And, when Jesus was born, for the first time, the hymen, that's the wall, that seals, that leads to the womb, was broken, by a man, for the first time, not from outside, but from inside.

[25:59] I know some of you, didn't understand it, but, this, Christmas is wonderful. It, it beats, it beats, it beats the mind, of any human being.

[26:16] How can, the creator, become, a creature, and live amongst us? Islam thinks, this is blasphemy. Of the highest level, how can you say, Mary, conceived Christ.

[26:30] Now, so, there must be, three ways, this conception, must have taken place. One of three ways. Number one, maybe, God, supernaturally, formed a fetus, in Mary's womb.

[26:48] So, use Mary's cells, to form a fetus, in her womb. Maybe, that's a possibility. But, if God did that, that means, that God was not involved.

[26:58] So, that child, would not have, as it were, God's DNA, because this is everything, from Mary. So, that is ruled out. The second one, is either, that, God, did some genetic modification.

[27:15] And, modified, the genes, or the chromosome, of Mary. Alright, to have the, why? So, instead of the X, he removed, it just cleared one.

[27:27] It cleared one, some genetic modification, just did some, um, key old surgery, and then removed, you understand that. And then he became, he became, why?

[27:39] And so, that's how we got, no, but I think that is not, so, because, even with that, God really, didn't bring anything. Or, God himself, supernaturally, produced the, why?

[27:52] But it's not from human, human male, but from, as it were, God. Now, some critics, somebody said to a critic, which I like, he said, it's interesting, that you believe, in the virgin birth, of, creation, the atheist, that big bang.

[28:10] That something was, that we don't know what, but it just came, it's virgin, it just came. But you are finding it difficult, to believe in the virgin birth, of Christ. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

[28:21] Very interesting. So, God himself, because, if God just does that, no, the first option I gave, if God just does that, without, creating a new fetus, that means that, that fetus, will not have Mary's, Mary's DNA.

[28:39] So, really, it's not a natural, and a real human being. But he's supposed to, and the word became, and the word became, and the word became, yes.

[28:51] Yes. Yes. So, it's supposed to have flesh. You must be able to trace his fleshly DNA and lineage. So, it was traced to Mary, and how about his godly DNA?

[29:02] It came from God himself. So, God, it says that, the angel appeared to Mary, and said, don't be afraid, for you are going to be pregnant, and you are going to have a child. You are going to give birth to a son, you shall call his name Jesus.

[29:15] And Mary said, how can these things be? Because, I know no man. She didn't mean, that I will not know a man. She's trying to say, this is going to happen. You are, you are thinking about a frame, a time frame, and I must know a man before it happens.

[29:29] The angel said, don't worry, the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the highest shall overshadow you. Watch this. And he says that, the power of the highest shall overshadow you. Therefore, also, that holy one, that holy one who is to be born, will be called, the son of God.

[29:44] Now, the mystery of Christmas, the son of God, becomes the son of man. So, in one person, you have the son of God. In one person, you have the son of man.

[29:56] Psalm 2 verse 7, he said he's called the son of God. Daniel chapter 3 verse 13, he's called the son of man. He saw God, and yet he's man, he saw man, and yet he's God.

[30:07] He didn't lose any aspect of his goodness. So, as he was in the flesh, he was 100% not 50% God. No. No. These things are essential for every Christian to them.

[30:20] Jesus was 100% God. And how about man? 100% man. He was fully man.

[30:31] In fact, in the Latin, it's vera homos, vera dei, very, very, very God, but very God, and very man. So, any aspect of manhood, he had it.

[30:42] Yes. So, let me talk about his flesh, because, and the word became? Flesh. I can't hear you. The word became? Flesh. The word became? Flesh. Let's talk about his flesh.

[30:52] What type of flesh did he have? Number one, the flesh of Christ. Number one, I like this one. This is a good one. I like this. He became, um, all right.

[31:03] So, a male flesh, not a female flesh, shall conceive and give birth to a son. Male flesh. Because, why was he male? Because he was coming to represent God, the father, not God, the mother.

[31:17] He was reflecting God, who called himself the husband of Israel, not the wife of Israel. It's very important. So, it was male flesh. Number two, it was Jewish flesh.

[31:31] He was born a Jew. Male flesh, Jewish flesh. Number three, sinful flesh. What do you mean by sinful? That's where it gets, it begins.

[31:42] Are you trying to say, no, no, but watch this. Bible says that he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. Romans chapter eight, verse four. In the likeness of sinful flesh.

[31:54] Romans eight, four. Born in the likeness of sinful, for the righteous, verse three, rather, sorry, verse three. For what the Lord could not do in that it was weak through the flesh.

[32:06] God did by sending his own son in the likeness of what? In the likeness of what? Sinful flesh. So, in other words, when you look at, this is very important. There's nothing, there's no significant difference, difference between Christ and you, in his humanity.

[32:23] Sinful flesh. In other words, he had, he, he, he could sin if he wanted, just like you and I. Sinful flesh. He was prone. That's why Satan came to tempt him.

[32:34] Sin. Because he had, it was, he was so normal like you and I, that he also, so you can't say, because he was, he was Christ, he was God. No, he had the sinful flesh like you and I. So that he can qualify to save us, he can qualify to understand you when you are going through your fleshly stuff.

[32:51] So sinful flesh, and let me add this, it's, he, the flesh was a sexual flesh. That's amazing. God, sexual flesh. What does that mean?

[33:01] He, he also had sexual feelings. Pastor, you can't say that Jesus has sexual feelings. I didn't say he had, I didn't say he had, you see, that, that's, that's the wonder, wonder of Christmas. He became flesh.

[33:13] Everything, flesh was apart from the sin. So he didn't sin, but he was a sinful flesh. In fact, Bible puts it this way. He was tempted at every point.

[33:24] Hebrews chapter four. Tempted us at every point. He said, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but he was at all points. How many points? At all. How many points?

[33:35] At all. So where you get tempted, he was also tempted. Brothers, don't think that it's only you who are struggling with girls. He was tempted yet without sin.

[33:48] So this is the kind of flesh we are talking about. He became flesh, and the word became flesh. John chapter one, verse 14, and the word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth.

[34:11] Very interesting about this. So he became flesh. And I also want you to understand that, that time Jesus was born, at his birth, it was like eternity has intercepted time.

[34:23] Everything in history changed. That moment about Christmas, if we will call it Christmas. Eternity. That's where eternity met with time. Jesus from eternity.

[34:34] The word, in the beginning was the word. The word was there before beginning, and suddenly now the word has brought himself under the restrictions of time. Galatians chapter four, verse four, says that in the fullness of time, God sent forth.

[34:49] But when the fullness of time had come, God did what? God did what? God did what? God did what?

[35:00] God sent forth his son. So it wasn't that he was not there already. He was there already. And God sent him forth.

[35:11] And when he came forth, he became a son of man. He was born amongst men. And yet as he was walking amongst us, he was the son of God. He was the son of God in the human flesh.

[35:23] Walking. Walking. Healing. How about this? John the Baptist got confused a little bit. Because there was so much wonder around this Messiah who was coming and who had come, to the extent that, Bible says that the prophets who prophesied about his coming, they will finish prophesying and be wondering, but what are we talking about?

[35:48] 1 Peter 1, verse 10. Look at it. Look at it from the screen. They will prophesy of this salvation that prophets have inquired and searched carefully.

[35:59] Who prophesied of the grace that will come to you? Look at verse 11. Searching what? Or of what manner of time? The Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

[36:17] They were wondering. He will prophesy. Do you know some of the prophecies? They said, A virgin shall give birth to a son. And he's wondering. What did I just say?

[36:27] They will prophesy that he will be born in Bethlehem. Yeah, I agree. But another one will prophesy that out of Egypt I've called my son.

[36:39] So is it Egypt or Bethlehem? The other one comes to prophesy and he says that in Nazareth, Jesus of Nazareth. Is it Jesus of Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus of Egypt?

[36:49] Which one? They will prophesy. Daniel prophesied that all the thrones and all kingdoms shall be under him, his garments.

[37:01] He shall be the king of kings and the Lord of kings. I saw the Son of Man coming. And yet, when he came, even the house, Bible says the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Isaiah said, Isaiah said, there was no beauty in him to desire him.

[37:18] And yet, I think, not my, one of the prophets also said that he was the beauty of all nations. So there were so many, one of it is, watch this, the first one was God who prophesied by himself.

[37:31] Theologians call it the proto-evangelion. Where, Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, God said that the seed of the woman, women don't have seed, they have egg.

[37:42] See, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. See, capital S, her seed. Women don't have seed, they have egg.

[37:53] The egg gets fertilized by the seed. But this particular woman, so, which is this woman who is going to have a seed? So, Jesus is called the seed of the woman.

[38:03] At the same time, he's called the seed of Abraham. Now, he is, watch this, he is the seed offering of Abraham and yet, before Abraham was, he was.

[38:15] He is, watch this, he is the seed of David and yes, he is the root of David's father. Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1. Look at Isaiah 11, verse 1. Look at this. It says that, there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his root.

[38:33] A rod from the stem is the stem of Jesse. This is quite interesting. So, if it's David's grandfather, if David's father's root, how can he be the son of David?

[38:44] So, Jesus, that's the last question Jesus ever asked the Pharisees in public and no one, they asked him a question again. In Matthew chapter 22, verse 41, Jesus said, okay, I want to ask you a question.

[38:55] The Messiah, the Christ, whose son is he? They said, the son of David, of course. Yeah, everybody knows that he's the son of David. Yeah, the son of David. Yeah, okay. So, if he's the son of David, Jesus continues to say, if he's the, how does David in the spirit call him Lord?

[39:14] Because a Jewish man will not call his son Lord. And Bible says that from the next verse, verse 44, and no one was able to answer him. No, from that day on did anyone, any, dare ask him a question anymore.

[39:26] He just silenced them. Because the, the, the issue surrounding the Messiah beats the mind of human, natural human beings because he was so many things converging in one. He's the lion and he's the lamb.

[39:39] He was crucified and yet he was reigning. That's why when Peter, he told Peter, Peter said, you are the son, the Christ, the son of the living God. He spoke about, from then he began to talk about his death. Peter said, you can't go and die.

[39:51] No, you can't go, you are the Messiah. What do you mean? You can't go and die. The Messiah is supposed to reign. And so, there's so many different aspects of the Messiah which, watch this, you cannot just read the Old Testament and get it.

[40:04] When you read the Old Testament, the prophets themselves were even wondering, what are we talking about? So, you can't. So, the last prophet of the Old Testament, he comes on the scene in Luke chapter 3 and began to tell them that, there's one coming after me.

[40:20] I'm not worthy to do the lace of his shoes, of his sandals. And he says that he, his winnowing friend from verse 13 somewhere there, his winnowing friend is in his hands.

[40:31] So, he started, Luke chapter 3, he started talking about John the Baptist and he said, his winnowing friend, okay, from verse, go to verse 16. Let's go to verse 16.

[40:42] John answered saying, indeed, I baptize with water but one mightier than I is coming whose sandals strap I am not worthy to lose. He will baptize with the Holy, go to the next verse.

[40:54] His winnowing friend is in his hands. He would thoroughly clean out his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn but the chaff he shall burn with oil.

[41:04] So, he was expecting that this guy is coming with fire. You guys are joking, he's coming. And he told them, repent. He was telling them, repent. In fact, there was a time he told them, Matthew said, who has asked you to flee from the coming wrath?

[41:16] Because he says that Jesus is coming like a threshing, he's coming to crush people. So, John the Baptist is in prison and then do you know what he hears? He hears that there's this guy who's in town doing so many good things.

[41:29] The guy you introduced that he's coming to bring the judgment is rather being so nice helping people. So, watch this, watch this. Let me show you. This is very important.

[41:39] You don't have to miss it. So, Matthew chapter 11 from verse 1, John the Baptist called his disciples and said, go and ask him. It came to pass. When he said, finish commanding the 12th, Matthew chapter 11, yeah, that he departed from this to teach and to preach in their city.

[41:55] Go to the next verse. And John, and when John had heard, John had heard in prison about the works of Jesus Christ, he sent two of his disciples to go and ask him and said, are you the one coming, are you the coming one or we should look for?

[42:07] But were you not the one who said that this is the Lamb of God? Yeah. You said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of, he said for, the one who sent me to baptize, John chapter 1 from verse 30, the one who sent me to baptize said to me that upon him whom you see the Spirit descend, he is the one who baptized the Holy Spirit and I testify that I have seen him.

[42:27] Now when he was in prison, he sent disciples to go and ask, is he the one to come? Do you know why he did that? Because he was confused, because he knew the works that this man is, he has introduced that this guy is coming with crushing powers.

[42:39] What he was doing was helping powers. So he was, so he asked, have I made a mistake? Go to the next verse, verse 4. Jesus answered and said, go and tell John the things which you have, which you hear and see.

[42:55] The next verse. What do they hear? Do they hear and see? The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached.

[43:06] Jesus quoted straight from the prophets, Isaiah. Because watch this, there's one thing you have to know about Jesus Christ. Before Jesus Christ came, no blind person ever was healed. The prophets, no prophets healed a blind man.

[43:18] It was a special characteristic of the Messiah. So he said, go and tell, what I'm doing is spoken by the prophets. So just in case he thinks that I'm the wrong Messiah, let my works tell him we should check with the prophets.

[43:30] Isaiah spoke about it. I will open the blind eye. Isaiah spoke about it. The lepers will be cleansed. Isaiah spoke about it. Go and check. So Jesus referred. Why? Why did that happen? Because Jesus' assignment was so interesting.

[43:45] Just the Messiah, if you just read the Old Testament, you'll be confused. So what are you? To the extent that even the one who said you are the Messiah said, no, you can't go and die because Messiah is not supposed to be.

[43:56] Jesus said, get behind me, Satan. Because of the enormity of who he was supposed to be. So many things converged in one. In his first camp, he came as a lamb.

[44:07] In his second camp, he came as a lion. In his first camp, he came as a, he came quietly in the manger. Nobody saw him. But in his second camp, Bible said, all eyes shall see him coming. So see, when, and all these are in the Old Testament.

[44:20] So you are wondering, is everybody going to see him? Or no one is going to, the second camp, the first camp, he came as a servant. The second camp, he's coming as a king. In the first camp, he came, and guess what?

[44:31] He was being judged by corrupt judges. Convicted by corrupt people. He, he was, the giver of life. Bible calls him the giver of, the author of life.

[44:43] They, they took his life away. How can you take the life, life from, the life giver? So, when he resurrected from the dead, if you remember, when he resurrected from the dead, Luke chapter 24, on the road to Emmaus, when the guys were confused, he said, oh, you foolish of dull hearts.

[44:58] Didn't you understand that the Messiah ought to suffer these things and afterwards be glorified, be resurrected? So, they only knew what has been said. Then he said to them, oh, foolish ones, and of slow of hearts, to believe in all that the prophets had spoken.

[45:14] All of it. Believe everything the prophets have spoken. Go to the next verse and see. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? So, the suffering was part of his assignment.

[45:26] There's so many things about the Christ. So, his birth was really a wonder. I have Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. Unto us, a child is born.

[45:38] And that same child is already a son before he was, when he was being born. That's already from the screen. Let's go. Unto us, a child is born. Unto us, a child is born.

[45:49] And the government will be born. The government will be on his shoulder. That's what John the Baptist was looking for. And they were killing him. The government will be upon his shoulder. And upon his shoulder, his name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

[46:07] Watch this. As he lay in the manger, that's the same person lying there. The Mighty God, a child, called the Mighty God, the Counselor, the Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He was so God and yet so man.

[46:20] How, let me just show one or two things and then I can, about his royalty. You have to know about this. He was supposed to be the son of David, isn't he? Son of David.

[46:31] So he can rule. According to 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 14, he's supposed to be the son of David. But when he came, let's look at his genealogy. Very interesting. You'll find something that will shock you.

[46:42] The genealogy of Jesus Christ. Let me talk about Judah first. Matthew chapter 1, verse, Matthew chapter 1, let's look at verse 3. Matthew 1, 3. Can we read it out from the screen?

[46:53] Let's go. Judah brought the grace and the seraph at the heart. The grace of the Lord and the seraph at the heart. Jesus is supposed to be, watch this, is supposed to be from the tribe of Judah.

[47:09] Because God prophesied on Judah that the scepter, scepter in other words, Genesis chapter 49, verse 9 and 10, the rule will never depart from Judah. Okay?

[47:20] So he said, Judah is a lion's world from the, from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, lie, he lies down as a lion and as a lion who shall rouse him.

[47:34] Look at the verse 10. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the Lord give up from between his feet until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of it. So this is a prophecy talking about Jesus Christ, the reign of Jesus Christ.

[47:46] Now Judah, guess what? Judah ends up having a child through incest. So that means that the lineage of the Messiah has been compromised as a king, as a ruler.

[47:58] So, you know the story of Judah? Some of you don't know. You want to go home, read it. It's very interesting. Genesis chapter 38. Judah had a daughter-in-law called Tama and Judah's sons died.

[48:11] So he said, no, I won't let my younger son Sheila marry you. But she needs a child. So you have to give me one of your sons to marry me so I can have a child. And he said, no, my child will not marry you because you are killing them.

[48:26] And then you know what happened. Then he, the woman said, I know what to do. I will get you to sleep with me. She played the harlotry. This lady, she played the harlotry and Judah, whose wife had died at that time, went to town and he went for her services.

[48:45] So he went for her services but she disguised herself and Judah didn't realize who he was with. So before they could come together, they would come together. She said, hold on, hold on, hold on, take it easy.

[48:55] Don't be in a rush. What are you going to pay me for? The service. And she said, just give me your staff. And I collected her staff and items. And, but from the Hebrew text, it looks like it continued.

[49:08] It wasn't once. Yeah. So afterwards, she was looking, he was looking for her. She vanished with his staff. And guess what? Three months later, verse 24, three months later, Judah was told, it came to pass, about three months after Judah was told, saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law has played the harlot, furthermore, she is with a child by harlotry.

[49:31] So Judah said, bring her out and let her be bent. That was very harsh. See the man, how can she do this? How? How?

[49:41] So when they brought her, I said, please, before you bear me, can we find out who owns this stuff? And he said, the one who owns this stuff, he is the one responsible for the pregnancy.

[49:52] And Judah said, oh, I think, Judah said, she has been more righteous than me. And verse 28, 29, she gave birth to twins, Zara and Perez.

[50:06] So, but according to, watch this, this is very important. According to Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse 2, look at it, I will show you something. If you commit incest, you are banned from, says that, one of illegitimate birth shall not enter the assembly of the Lord.

[50:23] Even to, even to the 10th generation, none of his descendants shall enter the assembly. You are banned. You can't go and really worship with them. You are banned. And so, that means that the seed that Judah has given, meanwhile, the scepter should not depart.

[50:39] The seed that Judah has given is going to compromise the lineage of the Messiah. Are you getting something? So now, let's look at the lineage of Jesus from verse 3 of Matthew chapter 1. That's what I was talking about.

[50:51] Matthew chapter 1, verse 3. All right. Verse 3 said, Judah, you know how Judah begot Perez? That's incest, incestuous relationship. Judah begot Perez and Zahra by Tama.

[51:04] Perez begot Hazron. Hazron begot Ram. Let's go on. Ram begot Aminadab. Aminadab begot Nashon. Nashon begot Salmon.

[51:16] Salmon begot Boaz. Boaz become Obed. Obed. Obed begot by Ruth. Obed begot Jesse. And Jesse begot David the king.

[51:29] So that means that David was not supposed to be a king. But the judgment was 10th generation. So David just came in after the 10th generation.

[51:40] Let's count. Let's go. Let's see. So from 3. Judah and then you go what? Perez. So when I mention you count. Okay. Judah 1, Perez, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, Nashon, 6, Salmon, 7, Boaz, 8, Obed, 9, Jesse, 10, and then who comes after Jesse?

[52:07] David. So that problem that was going to affect the rulership of the Messiah was taken care of by the 10th generation.

[52:18] Wow. So that Jesus, Jesus, Jesus could be, watch this, Jesus could be the son of David and still have the right to reign.

[52:29] Say the right to reign. It's called the royal right. But I will submit to you that Jesus didn't, watch this, Jesus had the royal right but really the royal right, something happened.

[52:45] David gave birth to Solomon and Solomon was the one who reigned. Is it right? So the lineage, the royal right went through Solomon. Anyone who comes after Solomon had the right to reign.

[52:58] Okay? So let's look at the genealogy of Jesus again. From verse 12. Matthew chapter 1 verse 12. No, no, no. Okay, that's Jeconiah. But when you go, I think let's go back to where we ended. Is it verse 6? Verse 7?

[53:09] Verse David. And David begot Solomon, Solomon begot Abijah, Uriah. Uriah. The next verse. Solomon, Solomon, I'm finished.

[53:22] It's okay. You need to know this. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, Abijah begot Asa. And when you continue, continue, continue, continue, continue, let's go to verse 15.

[53:32] I think it was Solomon. It ran down to verse 13, verse, sorry, verse 12. There's something in verse 12. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconiah begot Shehetel.

[53:45] So, Jeconiah, verse 11, was the one who ended the reign. After that, they were captured into captivity and there was no king anymore. After Jeconiah. But Jeconiah had the punishment from God over his head.

[53:59] According to Jeremiah chapter 22, verse 24. Listen to what God said. As I live, says the Lord. Jeconiah is the same as Coniah. Okay? Says the Lord.

[54:10] Though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet of my right hand, yet I will pluck you off. And then when you read from the verse, verse 25, a lot, but I want us to jump to look at the verse 30.

[54:25] That's what Jeconiah. And what he said about Coniah. That says the Lord. Write, write this man down as childless. A man who shall not prosper in his days. For none of his descendants shall prosper.

[54:38] sit on the throne of David and rule among, rule anymore in Judah. Watch this, watch this. So, if you come from Jeconiah, God has bad you.

[54:48] You can't reign. But let's look at the genealogy of Jesus. From verse 12 of Matthew chapter 1, Jeconiah was inside there. So then Jesus could not be the son of David.

[55:01] He shouldn't have the royal right. Oh no, he shouldn't, he shouldn't rule. He can have the royal right, but already they've said that your son, there's no son that will come from you that will reign.

[55:13] So that a son, if he's going to come, he can't reign because there's no son that will come. Even though he has the royal right, none of your sons, it's like they're all going to be waste. So look, Matthew chapter 1 again. Look at it. Are you someone learning something? Yes.

[55:24] It's very interesting. And after, after, after they were brought from Babylon, Jeconiah begat Sheetiel, Sheetiel begat Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel begat Abiud, Abiud begat Eliakim, Eliakim, Azor, Azor, Zadok, Zadok, Akim, Akim, Eliud, Eliud, Eliezer, Eliezer, Martha, Martha, Jacob, Jacob, Joseph, the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus.

[55:51] Watch this. The husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. So it was Mary who gave birth to Jesus, not Joseph. Yep. But then, that means that you have disconnected, watch this, you have disconnected Jesus from the line of David, because he, he's in, watch this, among the Jews, the one who had to reign must have the paternal, so from your, your right to reign is from your paternal lineage, not your maternal lineage.

[56:24] But for your information, David did not have the blood of Joseph. Sorry, Jesus did not have the blood of Joseph. So, he didn't have the royal blood. Because of Joseph being married to Mary, he could have the royal rights, but not the royal blood.

[56:40] So where is he going to get the royal blood from? He must be a son of David. And so when you read the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke, it traces from David. He didn't go to Solomon, it goes to Nathan.

[56:50] So David had children. Solomon was the one who had the royal right, but Nathan also had the royal blood. So the lineage of Mary came from Nathan.

[57:02] So Jesus had to be born by Mary to have the royal blood, but had to be the son, as it were, of Joseph to have the royal right. It's very interesting.

[57:19] So someone would say, oh, you see, the genealogy of Jesus is different. It's different. No, no, you don't understand it. You don't understand it. You don't understand it. You don't understand it. That's why he had to be a seed of the woman.

[57:31] A seed of, he must be of Mary. The blood of Mary must be his blood. So that if God forms a separate fetus in his womb, he doesn't have the blood of Mary, but he had the blood of David.

[57:45] Then from the tribe of Judah, wonderful Christmas. This is, this is amazing. Bible says the prophets who prophesied were wondering, what are we talking about?

[57:57] Yes, yes, yes, yes. What are we talking about? Why have we made Christmas something other than Christ? Why have we, it's a virgin birth. Start with the virgin birth or the virgin conception.

[58:09] Virgin birth, a virgin shall give, God will give you a sign, a virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, a son, a son, who is the son of David, yes, yet, before David.

[58:24] Who was the one who created everything, yet he became part of the creation. Who was the one who was the son of Abraham, yet he, before Abraham he was. He was the God of all, and yet became God in man.

[58:37] Hallelujah. This is the Christmas story. Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry. To hear more from David Entry, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

[58:49] You can also subscribe to Karis Church on YouTube. Don't forget to share and subscribe to our podcast, so you're always up to date. Be blessed. Heh. Bye.

[59:02] Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

[59:20] Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.