Well, Gaius Octavius was born a wealthy and powerful Roman family in 63 BC.
His father was a Roman senator, but more importantly, his uncle was the great Roman general turned dictator.
His name was Julius Caesar.
When a few conspirators, particularly some close friends of Julius Caesar, Brutus and Cassius, assassinated him in 44 BC,
it was discovered that he had secretly adopted Octavius, Gaius Octavius,
which made Octavius the legal heir to Julius Caesar and put him in a position of potentially gaining tremendous power over Rome.
It was then that he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, which we just use in English.
We shorten it to Octavian.
From there, a political drama unfolds, particularly between Octavius and another senator in Rome named Mark Antony.
Antony was married to Octavian's sister, but decided to divorce her in order to pursue an adulterous affair with a woman by the name of Cleopatra,
who was the queen of Egypt.
This was the final straw for Octavian, which led to a war between he and Antony,
which led to the defeat, I believe, at Actium of Antony and Cleopatra, who ultimately committed suicide in 31 BC.
Then, through a series of shrewd political maneuvers, Octavian became the first and perhaps the most important emperor of the Roman Empire.
At this point in Roman history, it's at this point that really the republic that it had become known for was really dead at this point.
With Octavian, we see the birth of the Roman Empire, and he becomes really the first emperor of that empire.
Now, his reign brought incredible prosperity to the expanse of the empire.
Under his leadership, Rome excelled significantly, made significant strides economically.
They made significant strides agriculturally.
They made significant strides in the arts.
He contributed to the incredible road system that connected all of the world together, seemingly.
And he's responsible for ushering in the Pax Romana, which we call the Roman Peace.
And recognizing his contributions, the Senate conferred upon Octavian the premier title of Caesar Augustus.
Augustus, meaning holy or reverend, up until that point had been reserved in Roman culture only for the gods.
People considered Octavian to be a savior.
One ancient inscription actually writes that Octavian was the savior of the whole world.
One historian wrote that when Augustus died in A.D. 14, the people, quote, comforted themselves,
reflecting that Augustus was a god and that gods do not truly die.
But while much of the world was lauding who they thought was a god and savior in Rome,
something much more glorious than they could ever imagine was taking place in this little town of Bethlehem in Judea.
It says Kent Hughes, the baby Mary carried, was not a Caesar.
He was not a Caesar who was a man who would become a god, but a far greater wonder, the true god who had become a man.
That's the story that begins to unfold here in Luke chapter 2.
Though his conception was a miracle unlike any other, there was nothing extraordinary about Jesus' actual birth.
In fact, we can read through these first seven verses and really there's nothing remarkable about them.
It's actually quite ordinary.
The circumstances aren't necessarily ordinary, but the way things began to unfold, at least at this point, is really quite ordinary.
In fact, that's kind of what's most noteworthy about it is how unremarkable it actually was.
We'd be hard-pressed to think of a more difficult and demeaning circumstance in which to give birth to a child.
Rather than in a palace surrounded by all the comforts possible,
the Son of God was born amidst the filth of animals.
Indeed, the contrast between Augustus in Rome and Jesus in Bethlehem couldn't be greater.
In Rome was a self-proclaimed God that valued glory and power above all else.
Jesus, however, willingly set aside the glory of heaven's throne
to become a man in order to save men from their sins.
It's a very different picture that we see between the two.
Luke rooted his record of Jesus' birth year in a historical reality
and also emphasized its prophetic significance.
We're going to talk about all of those things this morning.
But of course, his purpose in all of this was not to give us a unique tale to ponder
or to pass on to our children during the Christmas season.
His purpose was to give us certainty that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Son of God
and the true Savior of the world.
The point that Luke is getting across here is not to entertain us with a tale.
His point and his purpose here is to persuade us to believe.
He is giving us the good news of great joy,
as we've been calling it over these last few weeks.
Three simple things I want to point out about these seven verses.
The first thing I want to point out to you is that Christ's birth is fixed in history.
Christ's birth is fixed in history.
Look at the first three verses with me again.
In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria
and all went to be registered, each to his own town.
Ever since the birth of Jesus, there have been efforts to deny the historic reliability of this nativity story.
In fact, the people involved in these events were convinced.
Of course they were.
How could they not be convinced?
But no one else seemed to believe them.
Have you ever thought it unusual that with all of the extravagance that went into the angels appearing to
Zechariah and Elizabeth and then to Mary and Joseph and then the circumstances that lead Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
and then the angels appearing to the shepherds and then the magi that traveled from so far.
All of these extravagant things happening with the birth of Jesus.
Have you ever thought it unusual that no one else seemed to talk about it?
With something so grand, something so awesome, how was this not the talk of the town in Bethlehem?
How was this not the talk of the town in Israel and in Judea at this point?
And the simple answer to that must be that though the people involved in the story were convinced of the truthfulness of it,
no one else really was.
I mean, who of us would believe this story?
No one had an iPhone in that day to video the angel when he comes and delivers the message.
There was, there's no way to just stop and say, hey, let me get a selfie with you, Gabriel, here before you head back to heaven.
There's no way for them to provide evidence, right?
It's just stories.
And it probably wasn't until the growth of Jesus' popularity as a healer and as a teacher later on
that anyone really began to consider the old stories of angels and shepherds and magi and of virgin birth.
Several years ago, an atheist organization ran a series of Christmas billboards in New York City
to promote their particular denial.
I wish I would have put a picture of it on the screen for you to see.
If you want to see it, I'll show it to you after a service.
But basically, the way the billboard was, it was huge.
It was throughout the city.
And on the top was a picture of Santa Claus.
And it said, keep the Mary, keep the Mary, M-E-R-R-Y, keep the Mary with Santa Claus.
And then just below that picture was a picture of Jesus on a cross.
And it said, dump the myth.
So here, this was 2014, I think, or 2013.
Here is all of these billboards throughout the city promoting this idea that all of this stuff
about this nativity story, it's all mythological.
There is nothing historical about it.
It's not real.
And of course, people have said that for quite some time.
But really, to assert that the biblical narrative is mythological is actually intellectually dishonest.
You don't have to come to the same conclusions that we would as believers
about why this was happening and exactly the extent that it happened.
But to deny the historical reliability of it is actually irresponsible.
Even secular historians, both ancient and modern,
though they may not arrive at those same conclusions,
recognize the historical reliability of the New Testament documents.
Tacitus, the Roman from the first century.
Later on, Josephus, the Jewish historian,
all recognized the historical validity of Jesus' life
and the things that his disciples were teaching,
things that they truly believed were true about his life,
including his birth and his death and his resurrection.
And then we move on through history and we see,
even those who would not come to the same conclusions as us,
about faith in Christ acknowledge that these documents are historically reliable,
at least Luke really believed that this was true.
And Luke wrote a historical document.
C.S. Lewis, who lived a lot of his life as an atheist,
later in reflecting after his conversion,
wrote,
I have been reading poems,
romances,
vision literature,
legends and myths,
all my life.
I know what they are like.
I know none of them are like this,
he says.
And he's right.
Some of you enjoy to read fantasy and fiction
and things like that.
You know this is not that.
This does not read like that.
It's not intended to be like that.
Leading off in verse 1 with,
in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus.
That's quite a different approach than a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
That is not the same thing.
It's not the same intention.
It's not the same type of writing.
In fact, Luke was a Greek doctor.
He's a companion of the Apostle Paul,
who was particularly thorough in his writings.
Flip back just to chapter 1 here.
Look at the first four verses of the book.
Luke describes what he's actually trying to accomplish in writing this gospel.
He says,
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative
of the things that have been accomplished among us,
just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses
and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,
it seemed good to me also,
having followed all things closely for some time past,
to write an orderly account for you,
most excellent Theophilus,
that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Well, it's Luke's method here.
Well, his method involved interviewing eyewitnesses, he says,
in order that he might provide an orderly account,
sounds like a doctor to me,
provide an orderly account,
that gives historical certainty, he says,
concerning the things of Christ.
That's his goal.
That's his aim here.
He's not writing fiction.
He's trying to persuade.
By acknowledging Caesar Augustus,
Quirinius,
the census,
Luke was rooting the narrative of Jesus' birth
in historical reality
with real people
in actual places
at a precise time.
Luke's readers then
can recognize the circumstances
that actually brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem,
and they're reasonable circumstances.
There's no angel that lifts them up out of Nazareth
and delivers them to Bethlehem
just in order to try to make the stories fit.
That's not happening here.
Designating an exact census,
I don't know if you've ever considered this,
but designating an exact census,
and there were a few of them
that are listed in the New Testament,
but this particular one
meant there was a house of records somewhere
to where somebody reading this narrative
could go and find documentation
about this particular census,
there being a man from Nazareth named Joseph
who came to Bethlehem to register his family,
and here's the details of his family.
Here's his betrothed wife, Mary,
perhaps, depending on when the census actually occurred,
perhaps Jesus would even be listed on that.
There would be historical documentation
for the people originally reading this book.
God had so moved the wills of human history
that Jesus' birth occurred
at precisely the right time
for us to have certainty of its truth.
And Paul reflects on this in Galatians 4, doesn't he?
When the fullness of time had come, he says,
God sent forth his Son,
born of woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law
so that we might receive adoptions as sons.
When the fullness of time had come,
in other words, at just the right time,
God did this thing.
This was not coincidence.
It didn't just kind of happen this way,
and God decided retroactively
to look back on it and say,
this fits pretty well.
Let's make Jesus the Son of God and Messiah.
No, this was actually all God's plan.
He orchestrated this whole thing.
You don't know why he chose this particular time,
but there's no doubt that he did.
Augustus' rule over Rome
prepared the way for that census
that forced Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem,
which is so necessary.
And how assuring it is to believers' hearts
to consider the sovereign power of God
in orchestrating the events of world history
to accomplish his saving purposes.
That brings assurance to me,
because if God was willing to do all of this,
that means that he's not only in control,
but he's working all things together for good
to them who love God
and are the called according to his purpose.
That's what we see.
Marshall Howard said,
the census serves to place the birth of Jesus
in the context of world history
and to show that the fiat of an earthly ruler
can be utilized in the will of God
to bring his more important purposes to fruition.
We hear all kinds of stories that we wish were true,
but we know they must not be true.
The Bible, however, tells the story of salvation,
written with historical certainty and reliability.
It's not a fairy tale or a myth,
meaning it is truly good news that can bring great joy.
And Luke's intention was to remind us of that.
So that's the first thing that we see.
Christ's birth is fixed in history.
It's reliable.
Secondly, Christ's birth is the fulfillment of prophecy.
So once we understand, according to Luke's structure here,
that this is a real occurrence, this really happened,
here's the time frame that it happened,
real people, real places, precise time.
Then we can start to ask the questions,
well, is there any real significance
that would validate Mary's story here?
We know that Jesus was really born.
Records would indicate he was really born in Bethlehem
and all that stuff is true.
But what about the whole son of God,
angels, Messiah kind of thing?
Well, that's when we get to this second part.
It is the fulfillment of prophecy.
Look at verse four.
Joseph also went up from Galilee,
from the town of Nazareth to Judea,
to the city of David,
which is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and lineage of David,
to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,
who was with child.
The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem,
probably 80 to 90 miles,
they would have traveled.
Probably took them close to a week
to accomplish this,
at least in Mary's condition, right?
And there's a lot that we don't actually know about this journey.
There's a lot of gaps that are left wide open for us, isn't there?
We often assume that Mary rode there on a donkey,
but given their financial situation,
there's a real chance that Mary,
at this advanced stage in her pregnancy,
probably had to walk the 80 to 90 miles.
The Bible never says she rode on a donkey.
She could have,
but it doesn't say that.
This is a tough journey for her.
We don't exactly know how she got there.
Could have been that there was a caravan of people
traveling from Galilee down to Jerusalem
and on then to Bethlehem.
Maybe they were able to tag along
and ride along on some type of wagon
or another animal or something like that.
We don't know.
That's just conjecture too.
We don't even know exactly why Mary went with Joseph.
The census wouldn't have required that.
Only the leader of the household
would have been required to go,
most likely,
to the place of their lineage
to actually fulfill the duties of this census.
Mary probably didn't even have to go.
So we're not exactly sure why she did.
And of course,
common sense would tell us
that Joseph wanted to keep Mary close by.
She's clearly at the very end of her term
as far as her pregnancy is concerned.
We don't know all the stuff
that's going into this journey.
All we know is that they made the journey together.
But we don't need to let the absence of information worry us
because that's not Luke's intention.
He's not trying to tell us
all of the details about the journey.
His intention is to tell us
the reasons why Joseph and Mary
ended up in Bethlehem
because the whole Bethlehem part of this
is so important.
Why were they there?
The significance of these verses
lies in the fact
that they record the fulfillment of prophecies
given by God hundreds of years before.
Two in particular
are directly addressed here in these verses.
The first one
had to do with the Davidic covenant
that this long-awaited Messiah
would come through the house and lineage
of King David.
Matthew's genealogy in Matthew chapter 1
and then Luke's emphasis here
on Joseph's heritage
serve to show that Jesus' birth
fulfills this prophecy.
So it's not just about the fact that Jesus historically
was born in Bethlehem.
It's also about the fact
that being born in Bethlehem
means that he fits the parameters
of what God said the Messiah would be.
2 Samuel chapter 7
this is where God gives his covenant to David.
When your days are fulfilled
and you lie down with your fathers
I will raise up your offspring after you
who shall come from your body
and I will establish his kingdom.
You say well that could be about Solomon.
It could be
but then he goes on
he shall build a house for my name
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Remember that doesn't apply to Solomon.
In fact that doesn't apply to anybody else
that came in David's line.
That can apply to one person alone.
That's this Messiah king
that Israel had longed for.
And Israel understood this Davidic covenant
to be a reference to this Messiah king.
And the prophets affirm this.
In Isaiah chapter 11
there shall come forth a shoot
from the stump of Jesse.
Jesse was David's father.
And a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.
The spirit of wisdom and understanding.
The spirit of counsel and might.
The spirit of knowledge
and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
Now remember Isaiah is writing these things
long after David and Solomon
and the age of the good kings
that we would say.
Then Jeremiah picks it up.
Jeremiah 23
Behold the days are coming
declares the Lord
when I will raise up for David
a righteous branch
and he shall reign as king
and deal wisely
and shall execute justice
and righteousness in the land.
All of these prophecies
pointing toward a savior
a Messiah king
who would rule
and be from the line of David.
And his rule would be an eternal rule
as the emphasis here.
And so Luke emphasizes this.
He says remember
and he emphasizes it greatly in verse 4.
Remember Joseph is from David's line.
Jesus' adopted father is from David's line.
And so was Mary
as you get to chapter 3
and as you reflect back on Matthew chapter 1.
No matter how you shake it up
Jesus' earthly parents
were of the house
and the lineage of David.
Which means that Jesus himself
comes from the house
and the lineage of King David.
The second prophecy
directly addressed here
has to do with the place
where this Messiah would be born.
And of course this is where Micah comes in.
Clementine maybe you'll remember this verse.
I think you quoted it last year
didn't you?
But you O Bethlehem Ephrathah
who are too little
to be among the clans of Judah
from you shall come forth
for me one who is to be ruler in Israel
whose coming forth is from old
from ancient of days.
There's a significance to this.
There's a significance to this place.
Now the birth of Jesus
fulfills both of those prophecies
and more.
The prophetic significance
of Jesus' birth
is about so much more
than the virgin conception.
That's a vital piece of it
but it's only a piece.
Now I want you to consider now
in the prophetic fulfillments
all the things that had to have been fulfilled
in order for Jesus
to truly be this Messiah.
Remember if only one prophecy
is left unfulfilled
it would be impossible
for Jesus to be our Savior.
Without the virgin birth
Jesus is not the Son of God.
Have to have the virgin birth piece.
If Mary had remained in Nazareth
rather than choosing to go on the journey
with Joseph to Bethlehem
if Jesus had been born in Nazareth
he could not have been the one
who was to come.
Without the ministry of John the Baptist
as the forerunner of the Christ
Jesus could not have been the Messiah.
Even if the rest of Jesus' life
happened exactly as it's recorded
in the scriptures
but only one of these prophecies
falls short.
Jesus could not have possibly
been the Messiah
and the Savior
and the ruler
and the king.
And we would be left in our sins.
Now if we were to take
all of these prophecies
from the Old Testament
we were to lay them side by side
and we would say
how are we
how are we going to find this
to be true in a person?
We say it's impossible
because this is in God's
divine providence
that this unfolds.
It is in the divine providence
of God
that every single prophecy
of this Savior king
was fulfilled
precisely
in Jesus of Nazareth
down to the minutest
detail
of the place
of his birth.
All of it.
All of it fulfilled.
It's not been fulfilled
this way
in any other person
ever.
Only one.
And Jesus
perfectly
fits it.
Of course
the ultimate validation
of Jesus' identity
is his resurrection
from the dead.
In fact
the resurrection
changes everything
doesn't it?
In fact
if you're struggling
with doubts
and you're trying
to see how all
these pieces
fit together
perhaps a good method
is to start at the end
and work your way
backwards.
You start with the resurrection
what does that tell us?
Well if Jesus
was able to raise
from the dead
there is something
significant about him
there must be
something divine
about him.
And you start to trace
those things backwards.
The resurrection
validates his crucifixion.
The fact that Jesus
rose from the dead
means that God
the Father
received
his crucifixion
as a sufficient
atonement
for our sins.
It means it worked.
It means the sacrifice
was good.
It was holy.
It was perfect.
It means forgiveness
can actually be achieved.
The resurrection
verifies
Jesus' miracles
were about
so much more
than
bringing goodness
into the world.
It was about
more than that.
It was about
his identity
and who he was.
It was more than
just a gift
for a particular
people at a particular
time.
The resurrection
gives us confidence
in the truthfulness
of the scriptures.
If Jesus
rose from the dead
that means there
must be something
significantly divine
about him
and Jesus said
that the scriptures
were God's word.
So then
surely they must
be God's word.
resurrection
brings
certainty
to the fact
that Jesus' birth
was indeed
the fulfillment
of these
messianic predictions.
It means that
the baby
in Bethlehem
has the power
to forgive sins
and give eternal life
to all who will
believe and follow him.
It's good news
of great joy.
So we see
the birth of Christ
is fixed in history.
It is the fulfillment
of the Old Testament
prophecies,
every one of them
being fulfilled
and proven in him.
Thirdly and finally,
Christ's birth
is characterized
by humility.
It's characterized
by humility.
Look with me
at verse 6.
While they were there,
the time came
for her to give birth.
she gave birth
to her firstborn son
and wrapped him
in swaddling clothes,
laid him in a manger
because there was
no place for them
in the inn.
Now,
this is where
unusual circumstances
come into play.
The birth itself,
there's nothing really
extraordinary about that.
Mary felt
every contraction.
She felt
every pain.
She went through
all the processes
that you women
who have given birth
have gone through.
She went through
all of those things.
There wasn't anything
extraordinary
about that part of it.
But this is an
unusual circumstance.
They've traveled
to Bethlehem.
We don't know
how long
they were in Bethlehem
before the time
came for her
to give birth.
But all the indications
of the passage
say this was fast
and sudden.
They had not even yet
found a place
to settle in
to stay
for however long
it was going to be
necessary for them
to stay.
Accommodations,
from what I understand
in reading,
accommodations
for travelers
in Bethlehem
and in places like it
would have been
quite primitive
especially during
seasons of crowdedness
as this would have been.
The word that's used
for in
is not a typical
Greek word
for a hotel
what would be used
as a hotel
in that sense.
More like a campground
is really the idea
that would match
what we would think
of it as.
From what I've read
the situation
would be something
like an enclosure
that had different
stalls around
the perimeter.
Stalls where
these travelers
would come
and then
whoever owned
the property
or ran the property
whatever it was
would have
in the middle
of these enclosures
had a courtyard
!
A common courtyard
where they would
have the animals
that were necessary
for them to bring
as they traveled.
The responsibility
of what we would say
is an innkeeper
or whoever's running
the deal here
the responsibility
that they had
was to provide
fodder for the animals
and then some type
of fire.
Really that's it.
So when Mary and Joseph
get there
they find that
these stalls are full
there's no stall
that's actually available
to them.
Our decorative
nativity sets
portray a cozy
kind of quaint
even private
stable
but there really
was no such setting
available to this
young teenage couple
who's just made
this 80 or 90
mile journey.
Customary doors
of hospitality
were shut
in their face.
The young virgin
was forced
to give birth
in the middle
of a communal
courtyard
meant for livestock
and you can only
imagine what that
must have been like.
People talk about
all the time
you know
the birth of your child
is something
that you never
forget.
It's entrenched
in your memory
and surely
even for us men
it's entrenched
in our memory
maybe for different
reasons but it's there.
It's one of the most
bizarre experiences
of my life.
A good experience
but bizarre.
And when Julie
gave birth
to our girls
it was in a
comfortable hospital
there was
heat
very high heat.
I don't know
why they cranked
the heat up so high
in those rooms
when this happens
and there's
not just a doctor
or a midwife
there's lots of them.
There's people everywhere
and they're all
coaching you
and there's all
the machinery
and there's all
the stuff
all the stuff
that they have you do.
Mary has none of that.
You can imagine
it's just her
and Joseph.
She's 12
13
14 years old.
Joseph
probably wasn't
much older
maybe a little
but probably
not much.
She has no idea
what this experience
is going to be like
except for however
it's been described
to her by other
women in her life.
Perhaps she was there
for John's birth
and was able to
experience at least
in that extent.
And now she's forced
into a not so private
communal courtyard
Filled with animals.
Kent Hughes says
it was wretched
scandalous.
There was sweat
and pain
and blood
and cries
as Mary reached up
to the heavens
for help.
The smell of birth
mixed with
the stench
of manure
and acrid straw
made a contemptible
bouquet.
Trembling
carpenter's hands
clumsy with fear
grasped
God's son.
The baby's
limbs
waving
helplessly
as if falling
through space.
His face
grimacing
as he grasped
in the cold
and his cry
pierced
the night.
There's no
comfort of a mother.
There's no
assistance
from a midwife.
There's no
Clorox wipes
to clean out
the feeding trough
that she had
to lay the baby
in.
Unlike
Caesar Augustus
Jesus was the
king that
everybody needed
but no one
seemed to want.
No one
makes room.
No one
helps them.
The birth
of this
Messiah
could not
have been
more lowly.
It could not
have been
more humble
which of course
is the point
of it all.
That's the
point.
The creator
of the universe
enters our
world
taking true
humanity
with all
of its
brokenness.
He faced
every heartache
every temptation
every struggle
of life
in a sinful
world
but he did
so without
ever sinning
himself.
This makes
him a savior
and a mediator
according to
Hebrews
that is
perfectly able
to sympathize
with our
weaknesses
while maintaining
his power
to rescue
us from
those weaknesses.
King of heaven
now the
friend of
sinners
humble servant
in the
father's hands
filled with
power and
the Holy
Spirit
filled with
mercy
for the
broken
man.
Yes he
walked my
road
and he
felt my
pain
joys and
sorrows
that I
know so
well
yet his
righteous
steps
give me
hope
again
I will
follow
my
Emmanuel.
That's the
whole point
of the
thing.
It was
his divine
love
and desire
to save
sinners
that led
Jesus to
so willingly
humble
himself
in this
way.
But the
surest sign
of his
humility
wasn't his
birth in
Bethlehem
it was his
death in
Jerusalem.
Philippians 2
you know the
passage well
have this
mind among
yourselves
which is
yours in
Christ Jesus
who though
he was in
the form
of God
did not
count
equality
with God
a thing
to be
grasped
but emptied
himself
and taking
the form
of a
servant
being born
in the
likeness
of men
and being
found in
human form
he humbled
himself
by becoming
obedient to
the point
of death
even death
on a cross.
You see
this
characterization
of humility
the humble
nature of
the Messiah
is the
entire
point
that the
God of
heaven
endured
so much
out of
his love
for man
out of
his desire
to save
us
the pinnacle
of that
humility
being
a criminal's
death
the perfect
son of
God
nailed to
a cross
by the
people he
came to
save
Luke's
telling of
the birth
of
Jesus
is intended
to give
us
certainty
that God
has provided
salvation
through him
we get
the certainty
through the
historical
existence
of Christ
we see
the prophetic
fulfillment
we see
his divine
humility
but God
doesn't
desire
for us
to gain
mere
intellectual
certainty
there's a
difference
here
we can
sit down
with our
neighbor
and we
can go
through
the notes
that I've
given you
today
and you
can
highlight
all the
things
and you
can win
them
intellectually
maybe
to your
perspective
but
intellectual
agreement
with the
facts
is not
the same
thing
as saving
faith in
Christ
as Lord
and Savior
he doesn't
call us
simply to
agree with
the facts
he calls
us
invites
us
to repent
of sin
and trusting
Christ alone
as the only
means of
reconciliation
with God
you see
that's where
people get
tripped up
they're not
so opposed
to the
things of
Jesus
as far as
the stories
are concerned
and even
in our
particular age
they're fine
to listen
Amy mentioned
last Sunday
night
at our
fellowship
co-workers
even that she
has
who are
introducing
their kids
to Christianity
at Christmas
not because
they're
Christian
but because
they just
want them
to have
a well-rounded
understanding
of religions
and cultures
and things
like that
it's a whole
different thing
those kids
can go through
and learn
all the facts
and give
assent
to all
the facts
and still
go to hell
because it's
not about
giving intellectual
assent
to the facts
it's about
coming to a
place where
you see
the exclusivity
of Christ
Christ alone
brings salvation
Christ alone
can save me
from my sins
Christ alone
reconciles me
to the Father
so Luke writes
this not just
to say
here's the stuff
here's the facts
he gives the facts
in order that
he can say
now believe
believe
and follow Christ
believe
turn
from your sin
because the message
is good news
it's gospel news
but it's only good
if it's received
by faith
that's the only
way it brings
great joy
and you say
well what are we
what is it
exactly
what we're
supposed to do
with this
with these
things
and well
it depends
on who you
are
if you're
a believer
be confident
in the truth
of the Bible
it's
sometimes we
get this idea
that the things
that God
has given us
in the word
are just kind
of like
barely hanging
on by a thread
that if
one atheist
just pulls
just the right
thread
it's all
going to
fall apart
and you
need to
remember
that for
thousands
of years
now
they've been
trying to
pull those
threads
and the
Bible
has stood
the test
of time
it cannot
be defeated
your greatest
doubts
will not be
able to
defeat the
truth of
God's word
and when you
come to a
passage like
this you
can use
logic
and the
reason
that God
has given
you
to develop
the confidence
necessary
in the truth
of the Bible
and then
the confidence
of those
factual things
produces
worship
that's what
these Christmas
services are
about
that's what
that nativity
set on your
counter is
about
it's to bring
you to a
place of
worship
if you're a
believer
that's your
response
have confidence
in the truth
have confidence
to share the
truth and then
allow it to
drive you to
worship
maybe you're
a sufferer
here today
and perhaps
when you come
to this
passage you
are reminded
that Jesus
knows your
suffering
that there's
no suffering
you've experienced
that he did
not also
experience
he knows
he sympathizes
with your
weakness
receive his
comfort
maybe you're
a doubter
and if you're
a doubter
I just beg
you to
consider the
evidence
there is
abundant
evidence
consider it
if you're
a sinner
I invite
you to
turn to
Jesus
today
only he
can save
your sin
and that's
exactly what
he came
to do
we read
it in
John 3
God did
not send
his son
into the
world
to condemn
the world
not this
time
that time
comes at
the end
where he
will come
to condemn
the world
that time
has not
yet
occurred
God
sent
his son
into the
world
in order
that he
might
save
them
and he
says the
way that
you receive
this salvation
is through
faith
he that
believes
is not
condemned
but he
who does
not
believe
he's
condemned
already
you say
what am
I supposed
to do
cry out
to God
for mercy
acknowledging
that only
in Jesus
Christ
in his
crucifixion
and resurrection
is that
mercy
even possible
repent
from your
sin
trust in
him
faithfully
follow
for
reason
aspire to