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[0:00] Welcome. Thank you for choosing to listen to another faith-building message by Pastor David Entry. Faith comes by hearing and by hearing the Word of God.

[0:12] May your knowledge of Jesus Christ increase as you listen. Be blessed. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Merry Christmas. Thank God that every year has got a Christmas.

[0:25] Thank God that every year has a Christmas and 2020 has got a Christmas. Hallelujah. We thank God for bringing us together around His Word and we thank Him for all that He's doing.

[0:40] Shall we please pray? Father, we thank you for the privilege to come together around your Word and to talk about Christmas. As we talk about Christmas, let us see the Holy Child. Let us see the promised child.

[0:51] Let us see the promised King and the Savior. In Jesus' name, amen. Why Christmas? Why Christmas? Because there's a lot of festivities and celebrations and as you may say, noise about Christmas.

[1:08] And as I said earlier on, that every year has got Christmas and there's no year without that day. Hallelujah. And I believe that is a statement that, oh, in spite of all that has happened in the year, like, can you imagine a year like 2020 without a Christmas?

[1:27] But thank God that it's, Christmas is about the promise of God. Christmas is about the goodness of God. Christmas is about the love of God. Christmas is about the saviourhood of God.

[1:39] That God is our saviour. He's the saviour. He's the redeemer. Hallelujah. When you look at the different texts, nine different lessons, Genesis chapter 3, Genesis chapter 22, Isaiah chapter 9, and the list goes on.

[1:54] I want to pick from each of these texts and then show you something. But my overarching text will be Luke chapter 2 from verse 1.

[2:06] And it says that, and it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Now, the story of Christmas and the story about Christ is not a figment of somebody's imagination, somebody thought of fiction.

[2:24] Let me just do. No, this is set within a context, a political context. So Caesar Augustus was actually the one who brought so much peace to the Roman Empire.

[2:35] He initiated, and it was through his reign that we have what is called, historians call Pax Romana, the Roman peace. It was an era of peace and expansion for the empire, Caesar Augustus.

[2:49] And it was within the reign of Caesar Augustus that he gave an instruction that everybody goes back to your hometown to be taxed. So as it were, Luke, the physician who wrote this account, is trying to suggest to us that this is not an ideology, but it's a reality.

[3:06] It happened within history. There's historicity behind the story of Jesus, real history. And it happened within a political context and not just, there was a social context.

[3:17] And the Bible continues to say that, and this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. Real political figures.

[3:28] Verse 3 says that it all went to be taxed, everyone to his own city. And Joseph went up from Galilee. He used to live in Nazareth in Galilee, but because the instruction had to come, everybody had to go to his hometown to be taxed and to be registered.

[3:45] And from into Judea, onto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. Bethlehem is interesting. So we see Bethlehem appearing in Luke chapter 2 here, right?

[3:58] Early parts of the story of Jesus' birth, because he had to be born in Bethlehem. As we saw in the previous reading in Micah chapter 5 verse 2, talking about, Oh, Bethlehem Ephrata, even though you are little, out of you shall come the Messiah, the reigning one.

[4:16] So it has already been prophesied that it's going to be Bethlehem. Matthew chapter 2 verse 5, it says that the magi, the wise men, they came and they found out that from the book that it will be in Bethlehem.

[4:30] The prophets and the scribes found out that it will be in Bethlehem, for it is written, he shall be born in Bethlehem. And Bethlehem is an interesting, that is where in 1 Samuel, the Bible says that God sent Samuel to go into a house of David, one called David.

[4:47] And it's not, and then, so, and David used to take care of sheep in the fields of Bethlehem. Hallelujah. Bethlehem has always been in God's plan and God's history and the history of God's working.

[4:59] And guess what? Naomi used to live in Bethlehem and he left and went to Moab. But many years later, she came back without her sons and her husband. And Ruth came to Bethlehem and impacted the whole place.

[5:13] Bethlehem, that's where David grew up. It's the city of David. Hallelujah. And so there was something about Bethlehem. It has a geographical context. Bethlehem, that's where Joseph originally comes from.

[5:27] So he went with his betrothed, his espoused wife. Those days, engagement is not like, those days when you engage a woman practically, you have to go through the court system to divorce her, even though you're engaged.

[5:42] All right. The difference between engagement and marriage in those days was the act of marriage, where the marriage is consummated, between the intimacy comes in.

[5:52] But when you engage a woman, it's a legal situation. You can't just walk away from her. You know, then later on, it evolved to you can just put her away peacefully. So that's what, from the text we read in Matthew chapter 1, Joseph decided to put her away privately.

[6:12] So he doesn't create a sin around her. So when he was going to be numbered or taxed or registered, he had to go with his family as it were.

[6:25] So Mary, as it were, he didn't also want to leave Mary behind. So people would be looking at her, funny, how did you get pregnant? So Joseph was a righteous man. According to Matthew chapter 1, he protected Mary and took Mary.

[6:37] So he went to be, to also be registered and taxed, to be taxed with Mary, verse 5, with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child.

[6:50] And so it was that while they were there, that the days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. In other words, it was time for her to give birth. And she brought forth the firstborn son and wrapped him in a swaddling cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

[7:10] This is so packed with so much information. Seven verses all about the birth of Jesus Christ. Such an epic moment. But Luke uses just seven verses to tell us about the birth of Jesus Christ.

[7:23] Now, what is special about Christmas? What's unique about Christmas? Christmas is special, not because of just an ordinary birth, but because of the arrival of a promised Messiah.

[7:35] The arrival of the Holy Child. It is very important. The Holy Child is the promised Messiah. He is the promised king. A king had arrived. A Messiah had arrived.

[7:46] And not just that, because many kings were also born. Actually, from the line of David, many kings were born. So why the first? No, this one is not just one of the ordinary kings.

[7:58] He was a king. So in Isaiah, as we read earlier on, in Isaiah chapter 9, it says, For unto us, a child is born, okay? And unto us, a son is given.

[8:10] The child is a son. A child is not just, he's not Joseph's son. He's Mary's son, but someone else's son. So Mary's child was the son of God himself.

[8:23] So he carried divinity. Now, this takes me to make a few comments about the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Bible asks its way. The Bible is just like a question book with the answers at the back.

[8:38] So when you look at the questions, you might not be able to see how accurate you are with the answers you are supposing. So you look at the back, and now you begin to see the answers.

[8:50] And if you start looking from the back, you will see the answers, but you will not know the questions. And so the Bible is like made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament opens up with God.

[9:01] Everything about the Old Testament was pointing to this Christmas Day. Was pointing. It's coming. It's coming. How do you know? God created, even from the very first verse of the Bible, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

[9:17] God, in the beginning, God. And then we understand that in the beginning from John, it answers us that in the beginning, there was a word. So God said, the God said, the God said was pointing to a word.

[9:29] Okay. He was pointing to an existence of a pre-existence of somebody who later on came into real time, as we read in the book of John chapter one. John chapter one, in the beginning was the word.

[9:41] The word was God. The word was God. Verse 14 says, the word became flesh. Now. So watch this. In the beginning, that's Genesis. John chapter one, verse one is Genesis. John chapter one, verse 14 is Christmas.

[9:54] Hallelujah. So Genesis was there because Christmas is coming. And when we talk about Christmas, I don't want us to be distracted so much about terminologies, but the real event of Christmas is the birth of the holy child.

[10:09] The real event of Christmas is the birth of the prophet's king, the royal king, the holy child, the promised seed.

[10:20] Oh, thank you, Jesus. So when you study the text, the scriptures, you see, and then Adam and Eve disobeys God and they fell.

[10:30] And in Genesis chapter three, God comes and asks Adam, have you eaten what I said? You should eat. He said, the woman. God goes to the woman. Woman, did you eat what I said you should eat? She says, is there, is there, is there serpents who beguel me?

[10:44] Then God goes to the serpent and he says, because you have done this, cursed are you. Then after he curses him, he preaches the gospel. Hallelujah. So God was the first one to announce Christmas, that there is coming a Christmas day.

[11:00] Hallelujah. There is coming a Christmas day. I don't know. Is it 25th December? Let's not get into all that. It's not 25th December. Whether it's 25th December. There was a day.

[11:11] There was a day when heaven kissed the earth. The songwriter, hark the herald angels sing. Glory to the newborn king. He said, newborn king. I'll come to that again.

[11:22] So there was a day when that king was born. There was a day that God spoke about that. And he says that God told the serpent that I will put enmity between you and the woman.

[11:35] And watch this. Between your seed and between you and her seed. Between your seed and her seed. And he says that it shall bruise the seed. He shall bruise your head.

[11:46] So all you have done. There is coming a day. There is coming a day when someone will arrive. It's going to be a seed of the woman. I need you to understand this. Something interesting happens in the Bible.

[11:58] Where God created man in his image. In Genesis. His image. But as we found out. That man didn't end up becoming the actual image he was meant to be.

[12:11] Because he was not fully the immediate expression of God. He was created so he could have God inside. So God and man can be fused in one entity.

[12:22] To be the express image of God on earth. And that was pointing to Jesus Christ. In Hebrews chapter 1. It says verse 3. It says that Christ is the express image of God.

[12:35] He is the express image of God's person. In Colossians chapter 1 verse 15. Bible says that he is the image of the invisible God. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 4.

[12:46] It says that so that they will not see. The glory of the gospel of Christ. Who is the image of God. Christ is that image.

[12:57] So I told you. From Genesis. Things were pointing to something else. Genesis. Exodus. Leviticus. All through the Old Testament. And then.

[13:07] So God was the first person. To speak. And promise. That there is coming a seed. From the woman. There is coming a seed. It's not everybody. So from that time. Even though Satan.

[13:17] Has managed to check himself. Into the vessel of man. He. He. God said. From that same vessel. You have checked into. A seed is coming. That will crush you. Within the vessel.

[13:28] Hallelujah. And that became a problem. For the enemy. So he was always looking out. Who is this going to be? That is why. He murdered. The first seed. The first righteous seed.

[13:38] Of the woman. Who is Abel. He murdered him. Thinking that. He has thwarted the plans of God. But God's plan cannot be thwarted. And so. God's plan was waiting. For Christmas.

[13:49] Hallelujah. God's plan was meant. Because he said in Galatians chapter 4. Verse 4. When. But in the fullness of time. God sent forth his son.

[14:00] I'm talking about his son. So why do we celebrate Christmas? What is special about Christmas? Because it was the arrival. Of the holy child. The arrival. Of the king. The arrival.

[14:11] Of the eternal king. Who is born. After the seed of David. He is man. He was so man. That he came. And man didn't realize that. He was not just an ordinary man.

[14:21] He looked so ordinary. Because he was just fully. 100% normal man. However. He was a normal man. With 100% God inside him. Or he was 100% God.

[14:34] Working in 100% man. Hallelujah. That is what makes Christmas special. That time. On that glorious day. God.

[14:45] Hallelujah. God stepped into time. God stepped into humanity. That is why angel told Joseph. We read it earlier on. In Matthew chapter 1. He said.

[14:55] Don't be afraid to take her to be your wife. Because he was quite afraid of. Bible said. She was betrothed to. Engaged to the man. And she was found to be with child.

[15:06] Oh. Someone who is. Who is not fully married. A virgin. And she was found to be with child. And while Joseph was planning. To put her away. To get rid of this woman.

[15:16] Because I can't marry someone. Who is already pregnant. And I'm not responsible for that. And in those days. When you get pregnant. Without marriage. You are supposed to be stoned. Joseph had to protect her.

[15:27] And Joseph was thinking. I have to put her away. And then the angel said. Don't be afraid to take her. Because that which is conceived. Is of the Holy Spirit. That which she is bearing. She is carrying.

[15:37] Is of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. It's of the Holy Spirit. So it's not an ordinary child. She's carrying. And Bible says that. For. He. She. She shall bring forth a child.

[15:49] Let me read from. Matthew chapter 1. I want to just. Show you the text. It says that. Verse 20. But while he was thinking about this. The respondent. The angel of the Lord.

[15:59] Appeared to him in dream. Saying. Joseph. Son of David. Fear not to take. Bury thy wife. For thyself. To thyself. For. For that which is conceived.

[16:10] In her. Is of the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. That holy child. And guess what. And she shall bring forth a son. And thou shall call his name. Jesus. He didn't say. He shall give you a son. He shall bring forth a son.

[16:20] Because when you look at. Luke's account. Of Zachariah's wife. The angel told Zachariah. That. Your wife shall bear you a son. But here. The angel didn't say. She shall bear you a son. She is going.

[16:31] She's carrying a sin. She shall bring forth a son. Because unto us. A child is born. And unto us. A child is given. Hallelujah. So. A son is given. So he shall bring forth a son.

[16:43] She shall bring forth a son. And thou shall call his name. Jesus. For he shall save his people. From their sins. Don't forget this. I'm going to be ending on this. He shall save his people. From their sins.

[16:54] Watch this. Now. All these things were done. That it might be fulfilled. Which was spoken. Of the Lord. By the prophets. Saying. Okay. So. God has been indicating this.

[17:05] From the Old Testament. All along. Old Testament. So it's like. Every page of the Old Testament. Keeps telling. Oh. It's. It got. Something. It's like. Something is unfolding. It's unfolding. So people look for it.

[17:16] With anticipation. What is unfolding? It's unfolding. He's coming. He's coming. Every page. Even. A gentle prophet. In. In. Kings. Second. In Numbers.

[17:27] Chapter. 24. Verse 17. He said. That's. Balaam. Speaking. He said. For. I see him. Yet not near. I behold him.

[17:38] Yet far. He's coming. He said. For. A star. Shall rise. In Jacob. I see a star coming. He spoke. The prophet spoke about him. Isaiah. Spoke about him. Isaiah.

[17:49] Chapter. Nine. He said. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulders. His shoulder. And his name shall be called wonderful. Wonderful. Counselor.

[17:59] Mighty God. The child born. The son given. Yes. He's wonderful. Mighty. Mighty God. The everlasting father. The prince of peace. Of the increase of his government. The child.

[18:10] He's the prince of peace. And yet he's actually. Another place. Bible calls him. He's the mighty warrior. How can a mighty warrior. And a prince of peace. Be converging one. A mighty warrior. Being a warrior. A mighty warrior. Is bloody.

[18:21] Be a piece of peace. Is peaceful. So. How can. There's so much said. About this coming. Coming king. There's so much said. About this promised seed. So God promised.

[18:33] In Genesis. And then Abraham. Comes on the scene. Sacrifices his son. Willing to sacrifice his son. And God tells Abraham. Because you have done this. I'll bless you. And in your seed.

[18:43] Shall all the earth. Be blessed. We read it earlier on. In your seed. Shall all the earth. So God spoke to Abraham. That there's a seed. Coming from you. But God spoke to. The devil.

[18:54] And he said. There's a seed. Coming from the woman. And then he spoke to Abraham. There's a seed. Coming from you. And in him. All the earth shall be blessed. Then he spoke. To David. That David. Because you want to build me a house.

[19:07] I'll build you a house. And he says that. Where you are dead. From your. I'll raise from your body. He said it in. Second Samuel chapter. Chapter. 7 verse 12. He said. From your body. I'll bring from your body.

[19:18] A seed of yours. A seed of yours. Then in the verse 14. He said. I'll be a father to him. So he's been your seed. So he's the seed of the woman. Seed of Abraham. He's the seed of David.

[19:29] There was a promised king arriving. And everything in the Old Testament. And everything in history. Was looking forward to the arrival. Of this precious. This promised seed. This holy child.

[19:40] And so when you read Luke chapter 1. The angel went to Mary. And said to Mary. Verse 31. And behold. Thou shalt conceive in thy womb. And bring forth a son. And shall call his name.

[19:52] Jesus. He shall be great. And shall be called. The son of the highest. This is the holy son. The son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give to him. Watch this. The throne of his father.

[20:03] David. His father David. But he shall be called. The son of the highest. His arrival is good news. The son of the highest. And yet he's going to be the son of David. And so in Romans chapter 1.

[20:14] When Paul was going to declare his gospel. Introducing himself. He said. I am Paul. A servant of Jesus Christ. Called to be an apostle. Apostle of God.

[20:24] Apostle for the. According to the gospel of God. He speaks about the gospel of God. This gospel. It was God who preached it first. It was God who declared it. What's the gospel?

[20:35] The gospel is the promised Messiah. The arrival of the promised Messiah. Who is going to live amongst us. And save us from our sins. And. And bring God into us. So Emmanuel means.

[20:46] He said they shall call his name Emmanuel. Which means. God has just come amongst us. Hallelujah. That is good news. Thank God. 2020 has got Christmas. Which points to the fact that. God is in us.

[20:58] God has come to us. And so from Genesis. They always look forward to the coming. The coming. He's coming. He's the seed of David. He's the seed of Abraham. He's the seed of the woman. So Paul said.

[21:09] According to the gospel. Which God spoke by the prophets. From in the scriptures. So what the scriptures. God was speaking from the prophets. In the scriptures. According to Romans chapter 1.

[21:21] He's talking about this seed coming. And then he goes on to talk about. According to Romans chapter 1. Verse 2. Verse 2 says. Which God promised before time. By his prophets in the holy scriptures.

[21:32] Concerning his son. Whose son? Concerning his son. So God promised. Concerning his son. Whose son? His son. Jesus Christ. Our Lord.

[21:43] Who was made of the seed of David. According to the flesh. So in his humanity. That child that was born in humanity. Was actually the child of God. That's the point I'm making.

[21:54] He was the child of God. He's the holy child. The angel told Mary. He's going to inherit. God will give him. The throne of his father David. So even though he was the son of God.

[22:05] He was also the throne of his father David. Because he's supposed to be king amongst men. They were looking forward to the coming of the king. They were looking forward to the coming of a prophet. Moses said.

[22:15] God will raise a prophet like me. They were looking forward to the coming of the prophet. So there were questions in the Old Testament. Which you can only find the answers. In the New Testament. Hallelujah. And look at this.

[22:26] Luke chapter 1. Verse 35. It says that. The angels answered and said to Mary. The holy ghost shall come upon thee. And the power of the highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also the holy thing which shall be born of thee.

[22:40] Shall be called the son of God. Said this holy thing is the holy child. So what am I talking about? Christmas is the arrival of the holy child. And what does it mean? If the holy child has arrived.

[22:51] What's the meaning? What is the implication to us? That's why the shepherds. Watch this. When he arrived. People around his days didn't know he has arrived. They couldn't tell he had arrived. Why? Because they did not know him.

[23:02] The experts could be bothered. But it took wise men from the east. They were not astronomers. Neither were they astrologers. But they were people who were like wise people.

[23:15] Scientists. But theological scientists. Or scientists who were theologians. They studied about the movement of the stars and the earth. Everything about life. In light with God's plan.

[23:27] Subspecies item. In light with what God is doing and the plan of God. So they knew a child has been born. Somebody will say. Okay. Then horoscope is okay. No. Horoscope and astrology has to do with trying to determine events of life and people's future by reading the stars.

[23:45] No. But this is not reading the stars. They are looking at the movements of the star to determine people's destiny. No. It was the destiny of the child that was determined. The position of the child in Jesus' time determined the position of that star.

[24:01] And because it was a cosmic event. They traveled 800 miles away from where they were living to come to Bethlehem or to come to Judea to come and look for the skin that was born.

[24:15] And while so, you're talking about the elite of society and the underdogs, those shepherds were not valued and the underdogs. Angels appeared to the underdogs while shepherds were their flock by night.

[24:27] And the angels brought them good news. And what was the news? That is what is in this, as I mentioned, is captured in the song. Had the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king, the king.

[24:38] Peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners reconciled. Hallelujah. Joyful all you nations. All you nations rise. Join the triumph of the skies with angelic hosts proclaim.

[24:52] Christ is born in Bethlehem. Had the herald angels sing glory to the newborn king. This is good news. Let's rise to rejoice. 2020 has been a funny year, but the good news is that Christ is God with us.

[25:04] And so we sing, oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel. Oh, come. 2020, if there is something that somebody should desire, oh, come, Emmanuel. In Revelation 22, verse 17, he says that the spirit and the bride say, come.

[25:18] Let him who hear say, come. Now, this come is not only the second coming, but it's also manifest yourself in our lives. You are with us. Emmanuel, God with us. God is with us.

[25:29] That is why we say, oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel. We want to see his faithfulness. Oh, come, all ye faithful. Come and let's experience him. Let's adore him.

[25:40] And as we adore him, he shows up in our life. He is the king. He said he shall save his people, his people from their sins. He came to be our savior. He came to be our redeemer.

[25:50] He came to be our judge. He came to be our king. He came to be our helper. I want to announce to you there is help for you in Christ. There is peace for you in God. There is favor for you in God and your future as well.

[26:03] It doesn't matter what 2020 has done and we have seen. Because of Emmanuel, God is with us. It's going to get better and better for you. Let's call him, oh, come.

[26:15] Oh, come, Emmanuel. Oh, come, Emmanuel. Come into my marriage. Come into my life. You don't get the meaning of Christmas until you said, oh, come into my heart.

[26:26] They came with gifts. But the question is, did they go with the treasure in their heart? You might be receiving gifts, presenting gifts. But make sure this Christmas you don't lose the gift of life, the treasure in your heart.

[26:40] That's why we say, oh, come, Emmanuel. Oh, come, Emmanuel. Oh, come, Emmanuel. And be the treasure of my heart. I present to you the holy child, the promised king, the promised prophet, the coming prophet, the promised king, the promised seed.

[26:56] God bless you. This is why Christmas is important. Why? Because it's the arrival of the holy child who is the child of God, the child of man, the son of man, and the son of God.

[27:06] It's the arrival of the promised seed, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David. It's the arrival of the prophesied prophets, the prophesied king.

[27:17] And we thank God. This Christmas, I want you to know that God is with us. Emmanuel, God is with us. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening.

[27:29] To hear more from David Entry, follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Why don't you subscribe to our YouTube channel at Karis Church and subscribe to our podcast so you are always up to date.

[27:43]  Be blessed. Be blessed.