John 1:1-2, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. 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.
We need to start and understand why he came. For from the beginning we can start reading in the book of Genesis that sin entered the world and throughout the Old Testament, we read about the effects of sin. God gave the law to Moses with a blood sacrifice required to cover sin. This was a temporary fix. In Leviticus chapters 4 and 5 we can read about the sacrificial process: the priest laid his hands on the head, it was killed the blood is sprinkled and the sacrifice burned. The animals were used as a sacrifice but these animals could not forgive the sin. They paid with their lives to push ahead the punishment for sin. The Israelites needed rescue from sin. We are all born into sin and the wages of sin is death. We need a rescue The Old Testament spoke of the Messiah, the savior. The prophets foretold of his coming, then, God became silent for 400 years. The New Testament begins with God speaking for the first time in 400 years to Zachariah, then to Joseph, Mary and the Shepherds. He spoke the prophecies being fulfilled. The first words spoken by God in 400 years were of joy and promise. How amazing it must have been? Dear old Zechariah hearing those worlds, not just the answer to his prayer, but the promises being fulfilled to the world.
Luke 1:13-17, 27-35
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
He then brought the good news to Mary. Such a young lady given a great gift but also the burden of being the mother of the Jesus. How much faith she would need to endure.
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
Then the Angel spoke to Joseph. Joseph had to be willing to trust and obey, to take the responsibility placed before him.
Luke 1:20-23
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
The angels spoke of the great tidings to the shepherds s. This was the good news. Just poor outcasts of society, the shepherds heard the angels proclaim the mighty words that Israel had been waiting for. It didn't happen as any one could have guessed. Many didn't believe it. But, the shepherds ran to see because it was news of great joy. They saw the Savior of the world come to earth.
Luke 2:10-12
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
These were all real people who walked on this earth. They had been waiting to hear of the promised Messiah. Can you imagine this message being brought forth and what it meant to know the promise was being fulfilled.
With his birth, the prophecies in Genesis 3:15, Genesis 12:3, Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2 Hosea 11:1 are all
fulfilled.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
From the beginning, right after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God spoke of the coming Savior, this see would be the one to crush the head of the serpent.
Genesis12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The promise to Abraham, that all people would be blessed through him.
Isaiah7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
This speaks of the manner in which he would be born and who he would be.
Mica h5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
This speaks of the place he would be born.
Hosea 11:11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
This speaks of not only the children of Israel coming out of Egypt, but Jesus himself, was in Egypt. In Matthew 2:14-15 when Joseph took Jesus and Mary to Egypt.
The prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus. There are over three hundred fifty prophecies in the Old Testament that foretold of the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled them all.
He came for some specific reasons. He came to give his life a ransom for many, to call sinners to repentance and to give eternal life. He spoke several times of why he came. A ransom was required. Sin had taken us from our rightful Lord. He paid his life to take back what was taken from Him. He came to call us home and give us a life with him forever in heaven for eternity.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Mark 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Luke 5:31-32
31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
We were lost and only he could save us. He came to give us life by being the sacrifice for our sin. He took our condemnation and our punishment. We earned death in sin. He came to rescue us from our earned death.
John 3:16-17
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Jesus fulfilled the required sacrifice completely. He left nothing undone. He loved us so much that he took our sin on himself and died in our place.
Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
His birth rent the very fabric of time and changed how the world operates. Our calendar is based on His birth. We can now receive complete forgiveness as his blood covers our sin, redeems us and changes our destiny.
He came to take our place, He came to rescue us from the penalty of sin, what we deserve. Only a perfect man could take that place for another. His body was payment for our sin. His purpose in being born was to die. He lived as a man to understand his creation. He experienced grief, loss, pain, joy, and love as a person on earth. He knows what is it like to be human. But his ultimate purpose was to rescue his people. We are still waiting for some of the prophecies in the Bible to come to pass. Here we are two thousand years later, with end time prophecies upon our time. While this may cause some to fear, we as the body of Christ can received this with joy as we know His word never fails.
Hebrews 10:5-7
5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
He did the will of God as a man. He walked in our place and gave us the opportunity to return to him. We have the choice. We also have the duty to share this good news with the world. We have the greatest message the world can ever hear. Unto us a child is born, the Savior of the world.
