Dr Greg Bahnsen - God Sent His Son (Christmas): Messiah Has Come! (Luke 2:1-39) (Part 5)

This recording has been released into the public domain by the Bonson Institute, where we aim to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We'll be taking a fairly long portion to read the first 39 verses, a story which I'm sure you've heard read to you and which you have read many times. But I ask you this morning to give your diligent attention to it, for it is the very word of God to you. We're continuing this morning our series on the divine preparation for Christmas. And having looked at a number of passages in the Old Testament which tell us of someone who is coming that will be the Savior of God's people, today we get to hear the glad message of the New Testament. The Messiah has come. So read with me now this familiar story from Luke, chapter two, beginning at the first verse. Now, it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to enroll himself with Mary, who was betrothed to him, being great with child. And it came to pass while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds in the same country, abiding in the field and keeping watch by night over their flock. And an angel of the Lord stood by them. And the glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, be not afraid. For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, and which shall be to all the people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Messiah, the Lord. And this is the sign unto you. You shall find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men, in whom he is well pleased. And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem and see this thing that is come to pass which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste and found both Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the manger. And when they saw it, they made known concerning the saying which was spoken to them about this child. And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them. And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called Jesus, which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord. A pair of turtle doves are two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit. That he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. And he came in the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the law, then he received him into his arms and blessed God and said, now lettest thou thy servant depart, Lord, according to thy word in peace. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all the peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of thy people. Israel. And his father and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him. And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary, his mother, behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel. And for a sign which is spoken against, yea, and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul, that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And she had been a widow even unto fourscore and four years, who departed not from the temple, worshipping with fastings and supplications night and day, and coming up at that very hour. She gave thanks unto God and spake of him to all that were there looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. And when they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned unto Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And thus far. The reading of God's Word. This morning, before I came to read the Word of God to you, we sang o little town of Bethlehem, which has a line in it which has always struck me, and I wonder if it might be meaningful to you, too. The first verse says, o little town of Bethlehem how still we see thee lie above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by yet in thy dark streets Shineth the everlasting light the hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight. I really love that last phrase. The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight. In this series of sermons, I have been asking you the question, what is the meaning of history? Where is history going? What's it all about? We need to know an answer to that question if there's going to be any genuine or objective meaning for our own lives. I realize people can choose to live for certain things. People can have certain hopes and fears and that sort of thing. And they may think this is just a chaotic world and it's all very subjective and everybody chooses for himself. But there's no satisfaction in choosing a way to live or a way to look at life that doesn't in some way strike you as fitting into the reality of the world in which you live and the genuine course of history. If we want to know who we are and what we're all about, we need to know what we fit into. We're just one small part of a puzzle, okay? And so what's the puzzle? What's the bigger picture? Where do I fit in? What is the course of history? And in order to expound to you what the Bible teaches us about the course of history and the meaning of man's life, we've looked at the divine preparation for Christmas. Because back at the very beginning, when man fell into sin and rebellion against God, and from that issued all the misery of this life, all the warfare, all the argumentation, all the divided families, all the psychological problems, problems, all the difficulties we face, all the problems with our health and finances and everything else. When at the beginning of history, man rebelled against God and fell into sin and misery, God came, amazingly, not to judge man, but to promise him a savior. That still overwhelms me when I think about it. In fact, in this series, I'VE tried to give to you four overwhelming or amazing things about the Old Testament preparation for the coming Messiah. Can I review those with you today to remember that the hopes and fears of all the years were met in Bethlehem that night God promised that he would send a Savior. That's the first amazing thing, is that when God came into the garden and found his rebellious children, he didn't strike them down and consign them to everlasting damnation. He. He rather came and said, I'm going to give you a seed who will crush the head of the serpent. God said rather than coming in judgment, he came in grace and with the promise of salvation. The second amazing thing we found in looking at the Old Testament is that the one that would be born the seed of the woman, the human being who would be born to be the Savior of God's people, would nevertheless be God himself. Now that is overwhelming. Philosophically, theologically, what do we do with that? God says, I'm the one who's going to come to be the Savior. And so a virgin will conceive and have a son. And you will call this one who was born of the virgin Emmanuel, for he will be God with us when the one that prepares the way for the Savior comes. He will say that we are to make ready the ways of Jehovah. It's not just a human savior, but it's a divine human savior that is coming. And that's the second amazing thing about the divine preparation for Christmas. First, that he would promise a Savior when what we deserve is death and judgment. Secondly, that the Savior somehow is going to be born of a virgin and will be God himself. And thirdly, we saw that this one who was coming is filled with all blessing. He will be the anointed of God, anointed above his fellows, the prophet, priest and king of God's people. Now, the Jews knew prophets and they needed the word of God, and they knew priests, they needed intercession to God, and they knew kings. They needed to be ruled by God. But. But someone is coming, the Old Testament said, who will combine in his single person all three of those major anointed offices, Prophet, priest, and king. And then fourthly, we've learned that the coming one, according to the Old Testament, somehow is going to be a suffering servant. How can that be? He's the grand Savior, a human being promised by God, anointed by God above all others. He is God himself. He's the prophet, priest and king that God's people need. And yet the Bible tells us he will come with humility. Being born in an obscure village called Bethlehem, he will one day ride in as a king to Jerusalem, but not upon a white horse, but upon a donkey lowly. And Isaiah tells us, and there he will bear the sins of his people. I don't understand people who don't see the inspiration of God's word. To be very honest with you. No matter what you make of individual passages, there is a pattern there in the Old Testament which no one could go back after the fact and write into the text. In fact, we know from the Dead Sea Scrolls and any number of evidences that these texts were known by the Jewish people for years and years. We read in our scripture reading this morning in Luke chapter two of the Old Testament being fulfilled, I'd like you to look at Matthew's account of Jesus birth as well. Because there we see that when the Magi arrived in Jerusalem looking for the King of the Jews, the Jewish experts knew to go to the Old Testament and to the prophecy of Micah to answer the question where the king of the Jews, the Messiah, would be born. This is Matthew, chapter two. And when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east and are come to worship him. And when Herod the king heard it, he was troubled, and he should be. He was troubled, and all Jerusalem was troubled with him. And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah should be born. And they said unto him, this is just remarkable to me. He got all the theologians together, all the Bible experts together, all the scribes of the law. Herod didn't know the Old Testament. He wasn't a godly man at all. But he asked the theologians, he said, now what does your book say? Where is the Anointed One, the Christ? Where is the Messiah to be born? And they answered him in Bethlehem of Judea. For thus it is written through the prophet, in this case, Micah. And thou, Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no wise, least among the princes of Judah. For out of thee shall come forth a governor who shall be shepherd of my people. Now what I am getting at is that the Jewish people had these texts in their possession. We see that in this account here. For years and years they had the promise that someone is coming. Christians didn't write this after the fact. This is something which has been there and people have pondered over and wondered what the meaning of it would be for centuries. The Old Testament is in one sense the story of the Coming One. And what does the Old Testament tell us about this one who is coming? I'll review for you what we've seen thus far in our sermon series. First of all, the Coming One would be the seed of the woman, a human being, and in particular the seed of Abraham. Secondly, we saw that the Coming One would be born of a virgin, and though he would be a son, he would be called the mighty God. Somehow, a human being born of a virgin, yet God himself, years before Jesus shows up. This is what the Jews were told in Deuteronomy 18 and Psalm 110. We are told that he'll be the greatest prophet of God's people, and he would be an anointed king, and at the same time a priest, after the order of melchizedek. In Psalm 110, we are told that he will be David's son. And yet somehow David's Lord, prophet, priest and king, son of Abraham, son of David, and yet the one that David and Abraham both worship. In Psalm 45, the Jews were told that the Coming One would be anointed by God, and yet he would be addressed as God with an eternal throne. Psalm 45 is just amazing in that way. You have the Anointed One, who above all his fellows is chosen by God, and yet he's addressed as God himself, whose throne is eternal. And then, as we've seen in Micah the fifth chapter, one would be born in Bethlehem, whose goings forth are from eternity. The Eternal One is going to be born. Can you imagine being a Jew in those days, scratching your head? What can that mean? How can God, who is eternal, be born and yet born in Bethlehem? Zechariah 9 said he would be a lowly king riding upon a donkey. And as I told you, Isaiah's prophecy, chapters 42 and 49, 52 and 53, a long description of the suffering servant of the Lord. This is what the Old Testament is all about. Many people have trouble reading the Old Testament because they don't see any thread that unites everything. But the Old Testament is about that original promise made by God. Someone is coming who will save you. And little by little, bit by bit, line upon line, God tells us in the Old Testament about this one who is coming. And you want to know what the theme of the New Testament is? Turn to Galatians, chapter 4, verses 4 and 5. If the old Testament is the progressive revelation of God about this coming one who would be our Savior? The New Testament is the declaration that Messiah has come. Galatians 4:4. But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law that he might redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Look at that expression. It's very pregnant. Pardon the pun. Galatians 4:4. And when the fullness of the time had come, God isn't like you this morning, getting up and rushing around to make all your Christmas preparations. Make sure you get the turkey in the oven or the ham, whatever it may be. Maybe you open presents, you have to get the kids ready, get dressed, get to church on time. God wasn't pushed in terms of time. It wasn't like, oh, there's only so many days left till Christmas to get all of our shopping in. The Bible says God is in control of history. He is the sovereign writer of the Scripture. He determines what's going to happen. And he, throughout the Old Testament, patiently built up to exactly the right time. And when the fullness of time, when the pregnancy of time was finally opened up, then the Son of God was born, born of a woman. Remember that expression, the fullness of time. Because God has been preparing for this day that we celebrate Christmas Day over the centuries, promising his people, someone is coming who will be your Savior. I want you to notice that in the New Testament there are two, I think, amazing things about the declaration that Jesus is the Messiah. Two things. I told you four things about the Old Testament. Can you remember them for our time of discussion afterwards? Amazing that God would come to Adam and Eve and promise a Savior rather than judging them for their sin. Amazing that this human savior would also be God himself. Amazing. Thirdly, that he'd be prophet, priest and king. And somehow amazing that he would suffer rather than to come into this world to be glorified and acknowledged for who he is. And now, two things about the New Testament and what it says about this Messiah. Two amazing things. First of all, amazing that Jesus is declared to be that one. That's just stupendous. And it's on the pages of the New Testament everywhere. In Matthew Chapter two, which we just read a moment ago, when the Magi came to Jerusalem, they looked for one who was the King of the Jews. But then Matthew tells us, when Herod gathered the Jewish experts together, when he got the theologians together, they looked for one who would be called what? Verse 4 of Matthew 2, the Christ. They knew that the coming one is the Messiah. The anointed one of God. And then a supernaturally guided star took the magi to where the child was. Do remember, I hate to ruin your childhood pictures of Christmas night, but you remember that when the wise men from the east came, they entered the house where Mary and the child were. Mary was no longer in the stable, no longer in a cave, probably where the animals were kept. They had now moved indoors. And so this is not the very night that the shepherds came, but nevertheless, it's a glorious story. The star showed them where the baby was and they came in. And what did they do to this baby? This verse alone should make people stop and wonder, how can you accept the Bible and what it says about Jesus unless you're going to accept all of it? You just can't take a Jesus who was a good man or a good prophet. When the wise men from the east saw a baby, the Bible says they bowed down and worshiped that baby. Some of you in this congregation have had babies. We have some babies here. Can you imagine bowing down to a baby and saying, this is the anointed of God? That's what they did. In our scripture reading this morning in Luke the second chapter, verse four, tells us that Joseph and Mary came to the city of David, Bethlehem. Now that should be very significant to you, if you remember our series, because God had promised to David a shepherd king, one who would shepherd my people, Israel. And so the shepherds in Israel, in Bethlehem in particular David's city, are the ones who get the announcement that someone has been humbly born of all things in a stable. We shouldn't lose sight of the meaning there. Being born in a stable. This has become so much part of our folk literature, you see, so much part of our culture. We all know that story. I want you to stop and think about that. That was God. God didn't even get the welcome that a human being deserves. And this baby being born in a stable, humbly born again. The shepherds bow down and praise this baby. And what was the angelic message given to the shepherds there? If you have your Bibles open to Luke 2, notice what the shepherds were told by the angel in verse 11. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is the Messiah, the Lord Christ, the Lord. We have become so accustomed to hearing Jesus Christ. As I have told you, we sometimes take that as first and last name. It's not. Christ is the title. And so when the Bible says he is the Christ, it's saying he's the anointed One, the Messiah. And the angel says to the shepherds, someone's been born. Who is your Messiah? He's your Lord. He's your Savior. This is declared throughout the New Testament. Then when Mary and Joseph go up to the temple to consecrate their baby, as the law of Moses required that every male be set apart with an offering to the Lord. There. Simeon, who was a godly and a devout man, Luke tells us in verse 25, because he was one who was looking for the consolation of Israel. I think I can identify with Simeon. I bet you can too, as I think about this one man. Of all the Jews going through their religious ritual week after week, going through their daily lives, humdrum existence and so forth, year after year, week after week, day after day. The Bible says, here was a man who had his eyes fixed on the coming one. And he knew the consolation of Israel is coming. And God blessed him with a revelation that he would not die before he saw the Messiah. The reason I identify with him, and I think you do too, is because don't we live in the midst of people who just go through their religious rituals and their daily existence year after year and week after week and day after day, they're doing whatever their lives are about. They don't understand the consolation of Israel. They don't understand that the Savior has come. They don't know the meaning of the life of Jesus and have no relationship with him. So we're somewhat like Simeon in that way. Simeon knew that God would send the Messiah and within his lifetime. And when the baby was brought to him, he declared, this is the Lord's Christ. And he called Jesus the Lord's salvation, a light and glory to all the people. I love that because Luke, who is a Gentile, reminds us that the Jewish priest declared on the day of Jesus presentation, he is the salvation of the Lord to all the people, not just to the Jews. He is the Savior of mankind. And then there was Anna, who came up at that very time when Jesus was being dedicated. A prophetess of God who thanked God because she, along with others in Jerusalem, had been looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. You get the feeling the New Testament is telling us this momentous event cannot be overlooked. What God has been preparing for all along has now come. In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son born of a woman. Messiah is here. Let's look at some texts real quickly in the New Testament that repeat this theme over and over again that Jesus is the Messiah. That is the first amazing thing about the New Testament Declaration, John 4, verses 25 and 26. Jesus is speaking to the woman at the Samaritan well. And in the midst of their dialogue, the woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh he that is called the Christ. When he has come, he will declare unto us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. What do you make of a man like that? What would you make of me if I came to church one day and said, do you know the one that God has been promising all along? That's me. I'm the special one. I'm the one chosen by God. I'm anointed above all others. I know with the fullness of joy that none of you can know fellowship with the Father. Well, I tell you, that would really offend you, wouldn't it? Not just because you know that Jesus takes that place. That's a hard thing for human beings to accept. And this is the second amazing thing about the New Testament. Not only that Jesus is declared to be the Messiah, he's come finally, but the New Testament tells us, and people believed it. In fact, it's incredible to me when you look at these texts how often the New Testament declares that the one that we've been waiting for, for all the years is Jesus. And there's not a lot of argument given about it. Those who declare this, I realize not everyone accepted him as the Messiah, but those who declared that he was the Messiah didn't feel any need to argue about it. The texts of the New Testament are unencumbered with a lot of rationalizations. Oh, but you'll say this, and here's our answer to that. It was like if you knew him, there was no question about it. And Jesus had this kind of presence about him, this kind of self attesting authority that he could simply say to the woman at the well, the one you've just spoken about, the Messiah, that's me. Look at Mark 14:61, 62 again, the declaration of Jesus himself, Mark 14. And in his trial before the Sanhedrin, Jesus is viciously cross examined. Verse 61 says, and he held his peace and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him and saith unto him, art thou the Messiah, the Son of the blessed? That was not a question for information, that was an indictment. Because everyone who knew the teaching of Jesus knew that he had been making claims like this. So now he's on trial and the high priest wants to get him to blaspheme publicly for the record. Now, do you Say that you're the Messiah. I mean, Jesus knows what's going to happen if he answers this question. And look at the calm, measured, firm, confident response. And Jesus said, I am. You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. You can read the rest of the text. The high priest then tears his clothes and goes, what else do we need? Can you imagine standing before the rulers of the Jews? And the high priest puts the question, so do you say you're the Son of the blessed? Do you say that you're the Messiah? And Jesus very simply says, I am. You can't take Jesus as a good teacher unless you take him for what he taught. And he taught that he was the promised Savior, the one that the whole Old Testament looked forward to. He was the fullness of time. Finally, the promise of God come to men. What was Peter's blessed confession? Look at Matthew 16. Jesus is talking to his disciples. In verse 13, he says, who do men say that the Son of Man is? And they said, some say john the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto him, unto them, but who say ye that I am? It's a grand text. Peter steps forward and answers and said, you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus doesn't answer him, saying, now be careful, Peter, you're going overboard. That's praise. That's not quite appropriate. I'm glad that you're positive in your answer about me. Jesus answers and says to him, blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Here's a man who is called the Messiah. And he says, bless you. God made that clear to you. God revealed that to you in Acts 2:36. Notice what Peter declares about this Jesus who was born. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God hath made him both Lord and. And Christ Messiah. This Jesus whom you crucified, you killed Jesus. But God confirmed God established that he is the Christ. He is the Messiah of God. Any Jew who knew the Old Testament knew that the Messiah was going to suffer. Look at Acts, the fifth chapter. After the Sanhedrin has questioned Peter and John has persecuted them for preaching the name of Jesus. Verse 41 says, they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name. And every day in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus has the Christ that was the testimony of Peter. It was likewise the testimony of John, who knew him well. Look at the gospel of John 1:14. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John says this was nothing less than the enfleshing the incarnation of the Divine Word, God's unique Son, now taking up his tabernacle among us, being the realization of grace and truth. In his first epistle. John, who knew Jesus so well, says in 1 John 4:14 and we have beheld and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. And Paul, who first persecuted the church, having not believed the claims about Jesus, having come to the conviction that this Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah of the Old Testament, writes in the book of Romans, chapter one, the very opening of his epistle. Paul, a servant of Jesus, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. Now listen. Which he promised beforehand through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Holy Spirit, by the resurrection from the dead, even Jesus, the Messiah, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul says the Gospel, the good news that God gave in the Old Testament many years ago, declared through the prophets, that was about Jesus. He's the realization, this one who was born of the family of David, the Son of God, and now our Lord. Paul in the book of Acts, Acts 13 makes a similar declaration about the Messianic status of Jesus. We can't read the whole text. Let me just skip through a few verses. Acts 13:23. Of this man's seed hath God, according to promise, brought unto Israel a savior. Jesus of David's seed, the Savior promised by God, came into this world, and that was Jesus. For they that dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. Paul says, if they would have read their Old Testament, the voices of the prophets, they would have known this Jesus is the one. And yet in condemning him, they fulfilled the prophetic word that he would be a suffering servant. Verse 32 and we bring you good tidings of the promise made unto the fathers, that God hath fulfilled the same unto our children, in that he raised up Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm. Thou art my son this day have I begotten Thee. And then verse 38. Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that through this man is proclaimed unto you remission from sins. Well, we can't study the entire New Testament this morning, but I do want you to have a sense of the thrilling, double amazing factors of the New Testament. This man who came into history, Jesus, was called the Christ, the Promised One, the Coming One, God's anointed One, the Messiah. And people believed it. I wonder if you know this Christ, because if you have doubts about God's intentions toward the human race, you have doubts about who Jesus is and whether he has the significance the New Testament tells us he does. Quite obviously you haven't come to know him as the way the people in the New Testament knew him. And what is it that impressed people about Jesus? Why is it they were willing to bow down to a baby and listen to a man say, I'm the Chosen One of God, and believe it? It's because Jesus brought with him a conviction of sin, but simultaneously the promise of salvation. In fact, there's an amazing thing that happens in the literature of the New Testament that I want to share with you as we end this morning. The amazing thing is that the New Testament, as I said, has as its central declaration, Messiah has come. And when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son born of a woman. Everything we've been looking forward to according to the Old Testament fulfilled in him. And so we see a number of texts that declare Messiah has come, that Jesus is the Messiah, that he's called the Messiah by others, confessed to be so. But as we get to the end of the writing of the New Testament, we find that the coming of the Messiah gets designated something else. And that in itself is a declaration of the meaning of Christ's life. And I want you to appreciate this. It's always stunned me when I became a serious student of the Scriptures, that the coming of Jesus is declared to be the coming of something else in other texts. And I want you to look at this with me. The appearing of Jesus, the incarnation of God's Son, had such personal saving meaning to Paul that Paul substitutes for the event, the appearing of Jesus in history. He substitutes for the event, the implication and significance of that event. Look at 2 Timothy 1:10. I begin at the ninth verse, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus many years ago, but has now been manifested by the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. Notice that Paul declares in verse 10, something has now been manifested by the appearing of the Savior. And what is it? Verse 9 says, the grace of God. The grace of God came into history with the appearance of our Savior, Jesus Christ. But now, if you'll turn to Titus chapter two, Paul doesn't even have to say, the grace of God has appeared with the appearing of Jesus. This now becomes shorthand for the grace of God itself. Appearing second Timothy 1:10 in a sense is revisited in Titus 2:11, where Paul now writes, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation, for the grace of God has appeared. The coming of Jesus is called the coming of the grace of God in Titus 3:4. But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and his love toward man appeared, when did the kindness of God appear? And when did his love toward man appear? What appeared with Jesus? Who was the coming One, the Anointed One, the promised Messiah of the Old Testament? And so now, by the end of the writing of the New Testament Scriptures, the Incarnation, the day of Christmas that we celebrate, the coming of Jesus, is now declared to be the coming of God's kindness, the coming of God's grace and his love for man. In Greek, literally, philanthropy, his love for man. You want to know how God loves man? That's what we celebrate today when we celebrate Christmas. Because what came with the coming of Jesus was nothing less than the grace, kindness and love of God. Christmas Day celebrates the greatness of God's promise that he kept. And in keeping that promise, the greatness of his kindness and love toward us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. What a day for men to rejoice in God's love toward man. God Himself has finally come. And God did not come to judge us as we deserve. He came to graciously save us from the guilt and the power of sin. He came to be the declaration of grace, kindness and love. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into this world. And with those who wrote the Holy Scriptures, we would unite our voices in confessing that you truly, remarkably, and finally are the Anointed One of God. We confess you to be our Savior and our only hope in life and death. We thank you that you were willing not only to come into this world, but to come into this world in humiliation. And though you deserved a king's welcome, and though all men should bow before you as the prophet and priest and king chosen by God, you were willing Jesus for our sake to show kindness and love in laying down your life that we might live. Please help us this Christmas Day to understand that this is the meaning of history and therefore the only objective meaning for our lives. Help us to have the eyes of faith to see that the hopes and fears of all the years were met in Bethlehem the night you were born. We praise you as our Savior and ask for your love. We pray in your name. Amen. This recording has been released into the public domain by the Bonson Institute. Duplication, sharing and distribution is encouraged. For more information about the life and Ministry of Dr. Greg L. Bonson, visit our website, bonseninstitute.com where we aim to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.