[0:00] Thank you for tuning into this message by David Entry. Every true revival is a product of the strong preaching of God's Word. May you receive a word from this message that will spark a revival in you.
[0:15] John chapter 1, I want to read one verse, verse 14. I will read and then we will all read it all together. Is that okay? John chapter 1, verse 14 says, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
[0:40] Here ends the reading of God's Word. Shall we all read it all together? Let's go. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
[0:57] Amen. Shall we pray? Father, thank you for a day like this. Thank you for your love for us and how you came to be our salvation.
[1:08] You came to be our rescue. Today, as we celebrate the day you came, we pray that let your Word find a special place in us and reveal Christ to us in a way that only the Holy Spirit can do.
[1:25] We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. John chapter 1, the prologue of the Gospel of John. John opens up his Gospel by saying, In the beginning was the Word.
[1:43] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning, there is talking about, not the Word had the beginning, but when everything was beginning, there was something that was before the beginning.
[2:04] And that is talking about the Word. And he said, The existence of this particular entity, which precedes everything that came into existence, that entity said, you have to get your name.
[2:18] In Matthew chapter 1, verse 21, the angel told Joseph, Mary will bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name what? Jesus.
[2:29] So Jesus was his name at his birth, human birth. So if he existed before his birth, what was his name before his birth? What was the name before he was born?
[2:41] Emmanuel is, he said, and you shall call him Emmanuel, which is God with us. So he said, human beings shall call him Emmanuel. Before he became God with us, what was his name?
[2:55] John said, let me tell his name. His name is the Word, the logos. It's not just a name, it's a description of who he was.
[3:07] When you read, any field of study is usually either prefixed or the suffix is logi.
[3:17] So biologi. Bios and logos. Zoologi. Zoologi. And then we have astrology. We have different fields of study, which is logi.
[3:32] It's logi. It's the reason behind something. And we get the word logi from logos. That is the same way we have logic, reasoning.
[3:44] So when we talk about logos, we are talking about a reason why everything exists. And he said, in the beginning, there was a reason. There was a meaning to everything that has been made.
[3:56] So in the, I can't give you a name. He is. He is the meaning behind everything made. So he said, in the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God.
[4:07] But the Word which was with God is actually the Word was God. The Word was God. Then fast forward to verse 14.
[4:19] He said, this Word, which was God or God, who is the Word, became flesh. You know, flesh is not a nice thing in Scripture.
[4:32] It's not necessarily a good thing in Scripture. Why would God become flesh? The Word became flesh. Became.
[4:43] That means it originally wasn't. He became flesh. He says that, and the Word became flesh. What point in time did the Word become flesh?
[4:57] The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us. We beheld its glory. Flesh Word. It doesn't seem to go together.
[5:09] The paradox of Christmas. Word, God, bringing himself so low to be captured in flesh. That was the day, as you might say, amongst humans, God was actually born.
[5:25] God arrived, or theologically we call it the incarnation, the appearance, the arrival, when God became flesh, when God became a human being, is called the incarnation.
[5:38] But every human being has a beginning, and Christmas is usually set aside to celebrate the day that God became human.
[5:49] Or, as I said, the day that God was born. God cannot be born. We are talking about God, the creator. A God cannot be, a God who can be born ceases to be God.
[6:01] So, when a child asks, so who made God? A God who can be made ceases to be God. A God who can be born ceases to be God. But, flesh must be born.
[6:13] So, if God became flesh, then that God who became flesh was born on a particular day. In Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, he said, for unto us a child is born.
[6:31] See, the word child capitalized. It's not an ordinary child. For unto us a child is born, but that child who was born, you see the child lying in a crib, lying in the manger, lying very vulnerable and helpless.
[6:49] That child who was born is a son who has been given. There was a son in the child whose son is that boy, that baby, whose son is the baby, whose son is it?
[7:04] that child that has been born is a son that has been given. A son of God, for God so loved the word that he gave his only begotten son, a son of God who has become a child amongst men.
[7:21] So, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Then let's take a close look at this child born. He said, the child lying in the manger, he said, the government to be on his shoulder.
[7:34] You mean who? The child? Yes. As though that was not enough. He says that, and his name shall be called who are you talking about? That child?
[7:46] Mind the child. Don't just eat turkey, mind the child. Don't just be lighting up trees and celebrating and eating and drinking and parties.
[8:00] Guys, mind the child. The day God was born, mind the child. He says that the child's name, his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty what?
[8:19] How can a child be mighty God? And how can mighty God be a child? The paradox of Christmas. God took on flesh.
[8:33] That unique day is the greatest of all days. Can you imagine a giant whose feet is as the size of this building?
[8:45] If it comes to your garden, everybody will know somebody has come there. Right? If it steps in your garden, guess what? all your neighborhood, everybody will feel there's something like somebody has stepped here.
[8:59] There will be a shaking. If God steps in humanity in time, the very moment he steps down, that day is a unique day.
[9:10] It is the greatest and the most wonderful of all days. God decided to wrap himself with flesh, and the Bible says that the child is mighty God.
[9:23] Look at that. As though it's not enough, everlasting. Excuse me, who are you talking about? You mean that child? Yes, mine, the child.
[9:34] His name is everlasting father. His name is prince of peace. The Bible says, and of his government, the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end.
[9:47] Upon the throne of David, you see, who is this child? That is very intriguing, so we have to just look a bit closely at this child. The implication of this child, who is mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, counselor.
[10:01] Wonderful. Who is this child? Oh, he's not isolated from all that has been happening before he came. Everything that has been happening before he came was pointing to his coming.
[10:12] And everything that has been happening after he came was pointing to his second coming. He's pointing to his second coming. This child, let's look at it from the perspective of Eden.
[10:24] I want to look at it from five perspectives. First perspective is the perspective of Eden. In the garden of Eden, we read in Genesis chapter 3, Adam, where are you?
[10:38] I heard your voice and I was afraid because I was naked. Adam, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten what I said? You should die. Oh, it's the woman. woman, why did you do that?
[10:50] It's the serpent. Serpents, you are cursed. And God preached the first gospel. In Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, he said that I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her.
[11:06] See the seed there? The seed is not a normal seed. Normally, women don't have seed. The seed always comes from the man. but this one, he says the woman is not going to give a seed, but the offspring of the woman is going to crush your head.
[11:24] That was the first gospel that was preached. God preached that gospel. And he says that event in Eden, the garden of Eden, was pointing to the day that child arrived.
[11:39] The day he said, God said, me, myself, I'm going to be born. I'm going to be born and I will crush the head of the serpent. When you look at it from the perspective of Eden, you are standing in time, looking at this child lying in the manger, and it reminds you, that's from the perspective of the garden of Eden.
[12:03] That's the child God spoke about. That's the seed of the woman. And it's not only from the perspective of Eden. You also have to look at it from the perspective of the angels. angels.
[12:14] In the book of 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 12, the last bit, the Bible says that angels desire to look into. Angels desire to look into all these matters of salvation which was precipitated by the arrival of this child.
[12:30] Angels desire, so guess what in Luke chapter 1 verse 26, the Bible tells us about how in the six months the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth.
[12:41] God sent an angel and the angel came to Mary and he said, behold, you are favored for you shall conceive. Verse 31, he says that behold, you conceive in your womb and bring forth a son unto us, a son is given and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus.
[13:05] And he says that, verse 32 says he shall be great and will be called the son. Whose son? You shall bring forth a son and yet that son will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father.
[13:23] Whose son are you talking about? Is it the son of David, the son of the highest or the son of Mary? God will give him the throne of his father David yet he is the son of the highest and Mary you shall bring forth this son.
[13:37] The angel was saying this with excitement. Mary said, how can this be? Since I know the angel said, don't worry, people have gone ahead of you. With God nothing is impossible. For Elizabeth, your cousin is six months ahead of you.
[13:50] She is six months already pregnant. The one who has gone past the possibility of giving birth, she is six months pregnant ahead of you because with God nothing shall be impossible. Then Mary said, let it be. And then the angel, when Mary got pregnant, in Matthew chapter 1, verse 16, Bible talks about Jacob begat Joseph, and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary.
[14:12] And then he said, of whom was born Jesus, who is called the Christ. So Mary gave birth to Jesus. And then Bible says that, look at verse 18. Verse 18 says, now the birth of Jesus was as follows.
[14:25] This is how it happened. This is very important. So this began to throw a bit more light on John chapter 1, verse 14. and the word became flesh.
[14:36] How did it happen? The birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was already pregnant.
[14:51] They hadn't come together, but she was pregnant. She's gone ahead. And Bible says that Joseph, being a just man, started thinking on how to put her away.
[15:03] But he didn't want to create a fast about it. He was a good guy, and he loved the girl, but this time is too late. I can't take this girl. And then an angel appeared to Joseph.
[15:13] Angel, angel, angel, angel perspective. The angel said in a dream that, Joseph, what has happened is of God. He said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you, marry, you mean I should marry her, I should go out?
[15:30] Yes. Why? What is conceived in her? It's of the Holy? Really? So, what has happened? It's of the Holy? Angels, from the angel's perspective, when the baby was born and was lying in the manger, the angels said, finally, from the angel's perspective, this is the one, the promised one we announced of his coming.
[15:57] Then, so you see the angel's perspective, you see the angel's perspective, how about the prophet Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 14, he said, I like this, I like this, God himself, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign, a sign, because if God is going to come, he can't just come for everybody, he just can't come, how do you know that gentleman's is not God who came, how do you know this one is not God, anybody are talking and coming and saying I'm the God that is coming, so God must give us a sign to distinguish his coming from others, because it's going to come so normal, that there must be something to distinguish his coming, so when he said that unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, that child that lied in the manger is the arrival of God, how do you know, from the prophet's perspective, he said that God himself will give us a sign and I like that big word, behold, everybody say behold, behold, behold, behold, do you know what behold means, behold, it's like, you can't ignore it, look at it, watch out, take notice of this, you can't just read and go on, take notice of this, watch out,
[17:08] Bible says God will give you a sign, behold, what is the behold, I know we have not thought about it because we heard this so many times, a virgin shall come, what's the meaning of that, no, no, think about it, that's right, you see the behold, have you thought about it, a virgin, do you know what a virgin is, a virgin, really the word virgin does not connot male, it's not referring to male, originally the word virgin sometimes even used to typify an unmarried woman, never in the Bible has a word virgin been used for male, because a man doesn't have anything to prove, there cannot be any sign on the male, if a male tells you, I'm virgin, nothing can be, there's no proof, and nobody can give a proof, but when a woman says,
[18:09] I'm a virgin, there should be a proof, do you know why, when God was creating women, he had this day in mind, else, anybody at all can say that she wasn't a virgin, the only female, whose, excuse me my language, whose hymen was broken by a man from the inside, not from the outside, how do you get pregnant without any fellowship?
[18:46] there need to be calm, please, we are in church, okay, it's a Christmas service, okay, Papa, I said, behold, a virgin shall conceive, no, no, no, please, a virgin shall conceive, how?
[19:11] No, come on, don't give me that, I'm too intelligent to deceive you, how can a virgin conceive? I mean, how? Think about it, on what grounds? On what grounds can a virgin conceive?
[19:23] Maybe, I know what you're thinking, there is a scientific phenomenon called Parthenogenesis, now, Parthenogenesis, it's made of two words, Parthenos is a Greek word, Parthenos, which means virgin, Genesis, which means beginning, okay, so, something began within the virgin state, and it's a rare phenomenon that occurs in plants, certain plants, or certain animals, especially some reptiles.
[19:57] Mammals, it's very, super, super, super rare, but once in a while, it might happen in mammals, but there's this Komodo dragon, when the female, when, let's say, somewhere in the wild, there's no male around for a few years, and no male, and the female have to reproduce, the biological system begins to know that this creature is about to get into extinction without reproduction, and so the female's egg begins to spontaneously multiply, and then it turns, the female becomes pregnant by itself without any fertilization.
[20:39] it's rare, it's so less as you, it can happen in human beings, rare, but you know, those of you who are familiar with science, you know the female chromosome is XX, male chromosome is XY, so it's like genetic modification, first of all, for a female to be pregnant without a male, where is she going to get the Y from?
[21:10] So when females are pregnant, in the extreme case, like Parthenogenesis, they can only produce female, because they don't have Y, so they only produce female, Y must always come from a male, so even in rare cases, if there should be anything like that, a virgin can't give birth to a son, oh, okay, reproduction by development of an unfertilized, usually female, garment, yeah, so it can only be a female, but here, it said, a virgin shall conceive, oh, and bring forth a son, not a child, a son, unto us a child is given, unto us a son is born, a son, he said, Mary, you shall, you shall conceive, and give birth to a son, the angel said to
[22:14] Mary, it's a son who is coming, so that cannot be part of the Genesis, so how, how did that happen, I want to take you a little bit into the means of the conception, how did that happen, it's one of three ways, either, number one, God enters into Mary's womb, supernaturally, and creates a fetus in the womb, without the involvement of Mary, so whether she was ovulating or not, God didn't need her ovulation, God didn't need her, God himself in the womb and creates a human being, but there'll be a problem with that, that means that child is not Mary's child, it will be, Mary will be a surrogate mother, but this, it said, a virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son, the angel told Mary, you shall give birth to a child, a son, and the angel told Joseph in Matthew chapter one, she'll bring forth a son and shall call his name, she is going to bring forth, yeah, why I thought of this is
[23:21] Joseph, yeah, the child that's in there is of the Holy Spirit, the point I want to make is Jesus Christ, that baby in the manger is actually the child of Mary, now, not because Mary just gave birth to him, but he had the DNA of Mary, so then if God starts a new work in spite of Mary in the womb, it shouldn't be Mary's child, so that's one option, the second option is for God to cause the egg of Mary to spontaneously begin to multiply, multiply, that will not be a son in that place, and then number two, he will be entirely married, God doesn't have a hand in it, so you can't claim that that's the son of God, the third option is that God himself will fertilize the egg, so one, he needed Mary's ovulation, because she was needed to be the actual mother, father, but the father to produce the seed is
[24:27] God, remember, she was a virgin, so this was an asexual conception, so there's someone say, if God impregnated Mary, how did he do it?
[24:38] He didn't have to, as a virgin, for goodness sake, so her hymen was still intact, and yet she was pregnant, because God, the creator, breathed himself into the egg, and God himself entered the egg as a spermatozole, so that spermatozole that fertilized the egg is God himself, and the word became flesh, the word entered an unfertilized egg in the womb of a virgin, and fertilized the egg, and the egg grew, nine months later, the egg became that child, why is he the child of God, the son of God, because God himself was true, he says that don't put away your wife, because that which is in her is of the Holy Spirit, he said, how can these things be, since I know no man, Luke chapter 1, verse 34, 35 says that the power of the highest, the angels say, the Holy
[25:44] Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the highest shall overshadow you, therefore also, the Holy One who is to be born of you will be called the Son of God, God is going to take responsibility of that child, this leads me to the third perspective, the first perspective, so the fourth, the prophet's perspective, let me just add a little bit about prophet's perspective, the prophet said, a virgin shall conceive, the prophets have always spoken about the arrival of Jesus, the prophets, can you imagine, Jesus' first arrival fulfilled about 300 prophecies already, it cannot be an accident, it cannot be by chance, how many of us can dial the king by chance, oh yes, out of the billions of numbers, maybe the number you dial, it will go to a fisherman in South Korea or North Korea, so there's something called mathematical probability, that's what insurance companies depend on to quote your insurance, so if they are giving you life insurance and you are 35, you are likely, maybe the life insurance, if anything happens to you,
[26:56] God forbid, they will pay your family 1 million, and how are you paying every man? 50 pounds, why are you doing that? 50 pounds, 1 million, it doesn't match up, yeah, because probability is that you are not dying now, but how about if you are 84, if you are 88 and you want life insurance of 1 million, the premium will be about 100,000, 100,000 every man, and so they have to check so many factors that will mean you will die at this time, or you died, if they check every factor, so those of you who smoke, those of you will drink, all those things will determine life, how much will be charged for you, because smoking and drinking is a sign that somebody is likely to die, earlier than planned, I'm not guessing, I'm just, it's science, yeah, it's science, that's why your insurance premium is that high, if you are a 21-year-old man, and you want insurance for your car, they will charge you more than a 30-year-old lady, even 21-year-old lady's insurance premium will not be as high as 21, a male, young man will have a lot, so it's mathematical probability, now, let's say I take a phone call,
[28:26] I want to dial my sister in the US, I can't dial any number at all, 0000 or 795, it will go, so how do I get to America, I start by dialing 001, that means I eliminate all other nations, narrow down to America, then in America, the states, let's say she's in Ohio, probably is 416, I narrow down, I eliminate all other states, narrow down, and then area code, that will also keep narrowing until I dial, and it's only one person that can answer the phone, in the same way, Jesus is coming, these prophecies for it to be about one person, remember, when man fell, God said in the garden, he said to the devil, the seed of the woman, there, right there, he separates, he said it's not going to be an animal that is going to deal with you, it's a human being, so one is narrowed into a human being, now look at the number of human beings on the earth, which one, he said no problem,
[29:29] Noah came out of the flood, three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, which of them is going to be the father, so God chooses Shem, so he said out of the, so he eliminated the rest of the race, so he chose the race of Shem, then it comes to Abraham, then he said Genesis chapter 12, I'll bless you and make you a great nation, so he chooses a nation from a race, then when it comes to Abraham, Abraham had Isaac and Ishmael, he left Ishmael, chose Isaac, Isaac had Jacob and Esau, left, in fact, in the book of Numbers 24, 17, Jacob has been chosen, he said out of, so out of all the sons, it says that a star shall come out of Jacob, so out of the two children of Isaac, Jacob was chosen, now Jacob also had 12, which of them is going to be the chosen one, Genesis 49 verse 10, he says the tribe, so after narrowing it down to a nation, he narrowed it down to a tribe, and the tribe, the tribe of Judah, but there are a lot of families in the tribe of Judah, so who is going to choose from the tribe of Judah,
[30:32] Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1, it talks about the house of Jesse, so he chooses Jesse, but Jesse has many sons, so out of the sons of Jesse, who is he going to be, and out of the sons of David, he chose David, he said, in fact, in 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 8 and verse 16, he said, I've chosen David, so he chose David out of all the Lord, so you see how God keeps narrowing, and David had many sons, many children, and he says, from the line of David, there's going to come a Mary, I'm going to choose a Mary, and that Mary is going to be a virgin, probability, there might be different virgins as well, probability, and guess what, when Jesus was born, he will be born, there's a prophecy, that says he will be born in Bethlehem, there's a prophecy, that says when he's born, he will be rejected by his own, Isaiah chapter 53, verse 3, he will be rejected, all these tick boxes, he had to tick so many prophecies, for it to randomly be anybody, no, it cannot be, it's a mathematical impossibility, for it randomly to be anybody,
[31:38] Jesus Christ, in fact, concerning his betrayal, in Zechariah chapter 11, verse 12, and 13, he says that he will be betrayed and sold for 30 pieces of silver, it's not just that, he said they will pierce him, they will pierce his side, they will kill him by piercing, Psalm 22, verse 16, they will pierce his side, he says that he will resurrect because you will not suffer your holy one to seek correction, Psalm 22, verse 10, all these many, many, many, many prophecies all narrowing down, and narrowing down in one place starting from when he was born in the manger, when he arrived in the manger, God has chosen a family, God has chosen a person, he has chosen a person from a household, he has chosen a household from a family, he has chosen a family from a tribe, he has chosen a tribe from a nation, he has chosen a nation from a race, he has chosen a race from a, for humanity, he has chosen humanity from all creation. This is not by accident.
[32:35] And so when the boy who lied in the manger, it's a reflection of prophecy. Prophecy that has been fulfilled from a prophetic perspective. That's the boy. That's the boy. That's God.
[32:49] And so, we are looking at from perspective of Eden, perspective of angels, perspective of prophecy and boy, perspective of the book. It says that, behold, I come, Hebrews chapter 10 verse 7. He said, I come to do your will. Behold, I have come. In the volume of the books, the records, there are volumes of records that are pointing to somebody's coming. And this is the only one who can do the will of the father. Somebody's coming. Somebody's coming. So when the child lay in the manger, from the perspective of the book, that's the one who the books have all spoken about. He is the one. And then, not just that, finally, from the perspective. So I'm talking about from the perspective of Eden, from the perspective of the prophets, from the perspective of the angels, from the perspective of the books, and then finally, the perspective of cosmos, or the cosmic perspective, universal perspective.
[33:50] Even the entirety of creation, universe, the galaxies reacted when he arrived. there's a difference between the wise man following the star and horoscope.
[34:06] The difference between that and horoscope is horoscope, the position of the star is determining the future of the person. Whilst, in Jesus' case, the child determined the movement of the stars.
[34:21] Two different things. When he arrived, even the galaxies felt it. So, wise men, they traveled, Matthew chapter 2, verse 1 and 2, wise men from the east.
[34:34] Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem. What were they coming to do? Saying, where is he who has been born, king of the Jews?
[34:46] For we have seen his star in the east. We saw it. That's very far. Thousands of kilometers away. They traveled and traveled along from the science.
[34:58] They were scientists. They read the science. They worked with statistics. They were not necessarily religious leaders. They worked with statistics and they designed.
[35:10] They could tell from the movement something has shifted. Wow, something has shifted. When the sun arrived, the universe reacted. From the perspective of the galaxies, he is the one.
[35:26] That day was not an ordinary day. He says that, and the word became flesh. So, when the word became flesh, we saw this child in the manger.
[35:37] We knew that something else. You have to look at the child very well and you realize that God has finally been born amongst men. The only one who chose his date of birth.
[35:49] The only man who chose his parents. This must not be an ordinary child. He is a child who existed before he was born.
[36:02] He chose his parents. He chose his date of birth and he chose to be born. Did you? Most of you, if God has given you a chance to have chosen, you would have gone to Buckingham Palace.
[36:19] He chose to be born. When you look at this baby boy, infant, baby boy, helpless, vulnerable, almighty God in a vulnerable baby.
[36:32] That's a conundrum. You look at it, but watch that boy. Watch that child. That's God who has been born. Watch that child. He's the everlasting father. Watch that child.
[36:43] He's God who has taken on flesh. Let me round it up by talking about flesh. When we say God, and let's read that from the screen again. John chapter 1, verse 14.
[36:55] That text is so sweet. So sweet. Even if you are not a Christian, it must do something to you. Let's all read it. Let's go. And the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.
[37:06] And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace. Let's all read it out loud. Let's go. And the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.
[37:19] And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace. This is so lody. He became flesh and dwelt. It's not like he passed through.
[37:31] He dwelt amongst us and we be, okay, let me tell you about the flesh. Five aspects of the flesh of Jesus. Number one, it was a physical flesh. It was a spiritual flesh.
[37:43] So physical, you, 1 John chapter 1 verse 1 and 2 says that, that which we have seen, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, we have looked upon and our hands have handed.
[37:55] We saw, we saw, we saw. It's tangible. When we talk about the flesh of Jesus, we are not talking about something ethereal, something cerebral, something intangible. No, we are talking about God became tangible.
[38:09] Physical flesh, human flesh. You could cut and blood will flow human flesh. That's one. Number two, when we say that he became flesh, we are talking about what sort of flesh is it?
[38:20] It was a Jewish flesh. Jewish flesh. Sometimes, he's painted as Caucasian or he's painted as German. He's painted looking like a Scottish.
[38:33] Please, Jesus, his nose is a Jewish nose. His skin is a Jewish skin. Jesus Christ, was Jewish and he's not Ethiopian. He was real Jew.
[38:46] Galatians chapter 4 verse 4, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman. His son was born of, his God's son, but born of. Remember, in Matthew chapter 22 verse 42, the Christ, whose son is it?
[39:00] And he said, what do you think of Christ? Whose son is it? And they said, he's the son of David. He is. But he said, he's not only the son of David, he's also the son of God. In the flesh, in Romans chapter 1 verse 2, it says that the gospel of God, which he promised before through the prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh.
[39:24] Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, the genealogy of the book of Jesus, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of, he was a Jewish flesh.
[39:37] You could trace him to the Jews. You couldn't trace him physically in the flesh. You couldn't trace him to Africans. You couldn't trace the flesh to Asians.
[39:48] You couldn't trace the flesh to Americans. And certainly, not Caribbeans. You couldn't trace his flesh to Europeans.
[40:01] He was not a European. He was Jewish. Bible says in John chapter 1 verse 11, he came to his own. Talking about Jews.
[40:12] He came to his own and his own received him not. In the book of John chapter 4, it says salvation is of the Jews. Yes.
[40:23] He said verse 22, you worship what you know, we worship what we know, for salvation is of the Jews. In the book of Matthew chapter 1 verse 21, the angel told Joseph that she will bring forth a son and he shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people.
[40:36] His people. He had people, his own, Jews. So he was a Jewish flesh. So one, the flesh was a physical flesh. Two, Jewish flesh.
[40:48] Three, male flesh. Male, gender, male, male. M-A-L-E, male, male. Some people said Jesus is both male and female. Sorry, he's not both male and female.
[40:59] He's only one gender. Why? Because he came to reflect the father, not the mother. He came to reflect the father.
[41:10] God, he came to reflect God and God is the eternal father. He came to reflect God and God is the king of the universe, not the queen of the universe. He came to reflect God and God is the husband of Israel, not the wife of Israel.
[41:26] So he's male, he's male flesh. He's male flesh. Number four, he was a sexual flesh. Ah, what's the meaning of that? Sexual flesh.
[41:38] He had natural tendencies. So it's not like he was still, nothing. He had natural tendencies. That's good news for you.
[41:50] I don't want to comment on that too much. I want to leave you too. And then finally, his flesh was a sinful flesh. Or, for just some people who may be very worried about the word sinful, is a flesh that could sin.
[42:08] Bible says that, Romans chapter 8, verse 3, what the Lord could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending forth his son in the likeness of sinful flesh.
[42:21] Oh, yes, it's just in the likeness. It doesn't mean he was sinful flesh. No, sinful didn't mean he sinned. Sinful didn't mean he sinned. It means that because he was a human being, he had that human nature that had the proclivity or the propensity or possibility to sin.
[42:43] There's a Latin phrase that goes like this, per se non vicari. Per se non vicari. That means that he had the ability.
[42:55] Okay, let me read it from what I've written here so it can make a bit more sense. He was peccable. Peccable means human nature is peccable. He had peccability.
[43:06] Does that make sense? So, per se, per se non picari. That means that it was possible not to sin. Even though he had the nature to sin, it was possible for him not to sin.
[43:20] Even though he had the nature. Now, this raises the question, begs the question. If Jesus could not sin, he didn't have the ability to sin, there was the point of a temptation. Why would someone who can't sin be tempted?
[43:33] In fact, in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15, the Bible says that he was tempted at all points as we are. He was tempted at all points just like we are tempted.
[43:45] But in this case, he was without sin. Yet, without sin. Yet, he didn't sin. Yet, he didn't sin. So, he was a sinful flesh. In Hebrews chapter 2 verse 17 and 18, it talks about how Jesus can identify with us.
[44:00] Therefore, in all things, he had to be like his brethren, like as human beings, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
[44:11] He had to be like so he can understand what you are going through. Look at the next verse. Verse 18. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted.
[44:23] So, where he walked, where I walk, he sat where I sat, he knows my frailty, yet we thou sin. His flesh was a sinful flesh.
[44:36] I heard a great theologian say that Jesus Christ, when he was a young man, he definitely would also be tempted, he would see some girls. Do you understand what it means for God to take on flesh?
[44:53] It is more complicated than it means the eye. Why would God do this? Because if he didn't come in the flesh, he wouldn't have had blood. And if he didn't have blood, he couldn't have died.
[45:06] And if he didn't die, no one would pay for our sins. And yet, he had to have the human flesh. What did the beauty of it is even though he was non-picare, he was non-pucare.
[45:18] In other words, he was impeccable. He had the nature of God that could not sin. So in his godness, he couldn't sin. In his humanity, he could sin. And that humanity was what you saw in the manger.
[45:29] That flesh, he took on flesh. He took on flesh so that he would go on the cross and die for our sins. Now watch this. If he didn't have the life of God, the nature of God, he couldn't have saved us from our sins.
[45:43] Then he would have been the same as us. So God himself had to come down for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. when he lied in the manger.
[45:54] There's something called the cult of the crib. To a certain extent, I think it's a good idea. What's the cult of the crib? Much of Christmas celebrated by Christians has always kept this nativity seen.
[46:08] And so sometimes you pass by churches, there's this whole sculpture of the nativity. Do you know why? It was St. Francis of Assisi in the year 1223 A.D.
[46:18] He came out with this so that people can always remember how God humbled himself. Philippians chapter 2 verse 6 and 7.
[46:29] Even though he was in the form of God, he considered not robbery to be with God. But guess, look at verse 7. It's getting interesting. But made himself of no reputation and took for himself a born servant and became and coming in the likeness of man.
[46:46] He came like us. He came like us. He humbled himself so much. If God is even going to be a human being, why would you go as low as becoming a baby? And so it's a depiction of the humility of Jesus to see, one, how low God came.
[47:03] Number two, it's also depicting the fact that God wanted, when he came, he chose to identify with the less privileged, the underprivileged, the marginalized in society. Why would he be born in a manger?
[47:13] Should have been born in a palace. He went to a manger. He went to the underprivileged, people who have not been valued in society. He went there so that God can reach out. He want to reach out to everybody.
[47:25] And number three, God chose. When you see that crib, baby in the crib around the nativity, he's trying to remind us that it was God's choice to become flesh.
[47:36] It wasn't forced on him. He chose. That's how much he cared about our state, that he chose to become a child. Now watch this. If you celebrate Christmas without this, that day he came, you've missed it.
[47:51] Christmas is meaningless unless it's linked to the arrival of God in the flesh. It becomes meaningful to you not only on the 25th or this season, 12 days of Christmas.
[48:04] Where from that? Christmas tree. Where from that? Santa Claus or Father Christmas. What's that? The Yule log. So you see the scene behind sometimes tree burning.
[48:16] What's that? Why is it depicting Christmas? Why is the tree depicting Christmas? Why 25th December? Because Jesus was not born on the 25th December. No, no, no. No. No.
[48:27] He was, should I tell you when he was born? Elizabeth got pregnant and six months after Mary was pregnant. If you want to calculate when Jesus was born, you have to calculate 15 months after Elizabeth got pregnant.
[48:40] because Elizabeth got pregnant six months after Jesus was conceived for nine months. So 15 months. So 15 months from the time of Elizabeth's concession will tell you the month around which Jesus was born.
[48:53] But how do you know when Elizabeth was conceived? The husband had an encounter with an angel when he was routed to go into the temple. You need to find out when he was routed to go into the temple. He was part, listen, he was part of an order.
[49:06] There are 24 sections of priestly order. He was order number eight. So out of the year, 24 orders will serve. So 24 orders, that means every order is about two weeks.
[49:16] So if you calculate from the beginning of the year, he's number eight. So he will be serving in the third month, the quarter of the year. That's the time he was in the temple serving his priesthood order.
[49:28] And the Jewish calendar does not start from January. It starts from mid-March, around March. And so if you add three months to March, that was when it started. That's June. That's why it's good to be born in June.
[49:39] That's June. But I have good news for you. It's better to be conceived in January. All right.
[49:51] My child, listen, listen. So Elizabeth, Elizabeth, the husband, Zachariah, had an encounter with the angel around June, three months into the year. That's the quarter of the year.
[50:03] He had an encounter with the angel. That was when Elizabeth got pregnant. So towards the end of June, Elizabeth gets pregnant. Now, 15 months later, that's 12 plus three, right?
[50:13] So a year after is June. Okay? Then three months after June, it's around late September, October. That's why September, October, it is in Palestine or in Israel, there will be no bleak meat winter.
[50:28] While shepherds watch their flock back, no shepherd goes to sit in the fields at winter. So it wasn't winter. It was autumn. It was September, October.
[50:39] That's the time Jesus was. So where did 25th come from? That's another story for another day. We don't need that. That is why I said it may be possible, it may be necessary to rescue Jesus from Christmas.
[50:50] Pull him out of it. Pull him out of the Christmas. Pull Jesus out. Somebody shout hallelujah. Hallelujah. Christmas is meaningless to the believer or to anybody unless you link it to the day Christ arrived.
[51:11] How do you link it? When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, born of the woman under the law, verse 5 of Galatians 4, to redeem us from under the law that we might receive adoption as sons.
[51:25] that is when this thing I'm talking about will become your greatest day. Not only the day he arrived, but your days on earth, your day with Jesus.
[51:36] God in the flesh has become your God for real. God in the flesh has become your God for real. Did you receive something? Hallelujah!
[51:50] Hallelujah! Thank you for listening to this message by David Entry. We pray you have been revived towards God. You can connect with David Entry on all relevant social media platforms including Instagram and LinkedIn.
[52:06] You can also hear more messages from David Entry on all relevant streaming platforms and the Carish Church app. Don't forget to like and share the message. Be blessed.