20/12/09 What if Christmas never happened? Readings John 15:22; Galatians 4:4.
Introduction •
I personally love Christmas – family, friends, decorations, presents, eating etc. However, in our first reading, Jesus invites us to consider the possibility, ‘what if He had never come to earth.’ Or what if Christmas never happened?
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What is He’d never come to earth? What if He’s never gone to Bethlehem? What if He’s never given that amazing insight into Kingdom living on the sermon on the Mount? What is He’s never walked on water, made the blind to see, lame to walk, or raised the dead? What if He had not given us His Word, to comfort, challenge, teach, and lead us to God?
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What if He had not died upon the Cross, Risen from the dead, and given us a living hope for an eternity with Him? What if He never sent His disciples out into the world?
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What kind of world would this be? How would things be different if He had not come? Jesus asks the question “If I had not come?
1. If Jesus had not come? Just imagine for a moment, a powerful hand has wiped the influence of Christ out of our civilization., like a teacher in a classroom. Go to the library and find no trace left of the words and life of ‘Jesus Christ’! In the encyclopedias the entries on ‘Jesus Christ’ had been removed!
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Great works of religious art, like “The Transfiguration”, “The last Supper”, and “Christ on the Cross” – would disappear from museums –just empty spaces.
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Great cathedrals and churches –Westminster, Lincoln, Canterbury, HCC –all gone!
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Great literature – Pilgrims Progress, Poetry by Dante, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Milton, - vanish without trace.
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No Christian Schools, hospitals, Universities, Academies.
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No Martin Luther, No reformation. No prison ministries. No Christian relief agencies bringing hope and help to the hurting of the world -like Tear Fund.
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No missionaries spreading the gospel., and no Wycliffe Bible Translators.
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No Christian music of any kind. No great hymns , no choruses, no gospel songs. No Christian t.v.
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No Youth for Christ and NO URBAN SAINTS!!
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No godly doctors, barristers, business men, dentists, donating their time and resources for Christ and His Kingdom.
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No Christmas to celebrate! – carols, nativity plays, services! – ALL GONE IF CHRIST HAD NOT COME!
BUT THE NEWS IS MUCH WORSE THAN THAT! •
If Christ had not come, the promises of God would be unfulfilled.
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If Christ had not come, the world would still be in darkness!
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If Christ had not come – sin would still have to be paid for.
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If Christ had not come, we would not know that God loves us.
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If Christ had not come, There would be gospel to believe.
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If Christ had not come, there would be no hope beyond the grave.
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If Christ had not come, we would be lost, with only Hell to face!
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If Christ had not come, there would be no good news to tell the nations.
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Jesus said “If I did not come!” but thank God HE CAME! “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son!” “Fear not, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord!”
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He did come! – and history itself was changed forever. That’s what matters. He walked this earth, the Son of God and nothing has been the same since. He came , and in His coming, He split time in two.
2. The world was ready! When the stage was set – God sent His Son!. No different than ours – 2000 year ago. •
It was a broken world! Broken promises, broken dreams, broken homes, broken hearts. A world without hope!
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A world of moral decline! Gross superstition, debased morality, widespread corruption, evil run amok and rank unbelief.
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A world given over to paganism. Sexual immorality, homosexuality, murder, adultery, perversion, dishonesty, and brutality.
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Into that darkness God shined a light into a stable in an obscure village called Bethlehem.
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The Stage was et for the first coming of Jesus Christ, just as God said it would – not too soon –not too late. “When the time had fully come, God sent His Son!”
3. God’s Timing and Providence is always Perfect! Gal.4:4 “When the time was fully come!” •
“Fully come” GK expression- “Something that is complete, fully developed! Like a ripe apple ready to be picked or a pregnant woman feeling labour pains , ready to deliver her baby. Duncan will tell you, baby might be expected 2 weeks time, but when the baby is ready the baby will come! And earlier this week, baby Richard was born!
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“Fully come” describes the moment in history when all things were in place. All the pieces were on the board, when the world’s stage was perfectly set – at that moment – not earlier, not later, God sent His son.
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God’s timing is always perfect! We know that because we know the Bible. He is never late –He is never early! Yet if we are honest His timing sometimes amazes us! Don’t you sometimes ask “Why did God do That?” or when we have prayed and prayed and the Heavens are as brass – we wonder if God can’t hear us and sometimes we wonder if there is even a God at all!
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Listen! The Marvel of God’s providence means He rules over the affairs of men and nations. As it pleases Him, He raises up one ruler and brings down another. He moves the entire course of history, so that all will be ready for the coming of His Son.
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He needed to get Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem from Nazareth - 100 miles! 9 months pregnant – to fulfill His promise in Micah 5:2, that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem - not Nazareth! So he moved the greatest Roman Emperor – Augustine (Exalted one) - reigned for 58 years - to call a census throughout the entire Roman Empire. From this census, he would have a list of names which would be used to collect much needed money for the Empire. For the Jews this
meant traveling back to their ancestral home in the dead of winter crisscrossing across the country. Joseph therefore had to make this dangerous journey across rough terrain, and bandit country to Bethlehem – whose only claim to fame was 1000 years earlier –David was born there – the greatest King of Israel! •
If there had been a Chamber of Commerce, they would have put up a big sign – “WELCOME TO BETHLEHEM –HOME OF KING DAVID!”
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And Joseph barely got here –home – when Mary said “it’s time Joseph!” And Jesus was born in a cattle trough, part of the full Inn! In Bethlehem!
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Listen child of God today! With God, there is such thing as FATE, LUCK,, COINCEDENCE. Nothing ever happens ‘by accident’ with God. All things work together as part of God’s eternal plan. You are part of His plan.
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I love the way Spurgeon put’s it “There are no loose ends in the providence of God…the clock of the Universe keeps good time!”
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Today, some of us here need to hear this because we wonder and secretly fear, that God has forgotten us. Perhaps you have come to the end of 2009 with a sense of unfullfilment, and perhaps a sense of dread for what 2010 will bring. FEAR NOT is God’s message to Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds etc God’s timing and he provision is perfect. “When the time was fully come, God sent His Son!” – and when the time is fully come – He will keep his promises to you!. Expect it – don’t miss it!
4. My Part? •
Our text says “God sent forth His Son” - That is, he made the move towards us! While we were moving away from Him – He was moving towards us!
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God sent His Son into a world that didn’t know He was God, and didn’t care that He had just arrived – there was no welcoming committee in Bethlehem!
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I recently met a guys who most of his life played and compromised with this whole notion of commitment to God. Then he surprised me by saying –“I want to go, in a new direction – I just hope that God will meet me halfway!” He meant he was taking a step towards God, and now he hoped God would take a step towards him and they could meet somewhere in the middle!
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I was happy to tell him that God never meets us halfway –that it’s not ‘you take a step, then God takes a step! It’s not even you take one step and God takes 4 steps! NO! We never have to take the first step –God always takes the first step! -always makes the first move! Truth is –God has taken 1000 steps towards us, mow He wants you to take a tiny step towards Him!
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The journey from Heaven to Earth was the longest journey anyone ever made. When you take a tiny step towards Him – He meets you right where you are!
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C.S. Lewis “ The Son of God became the Son of Man –so that the sons of man, could become the sons of God.” God doesn’t say ‘Climb up here!’ no! He comes down to where we are -and lifts us up to where He is!
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This is God’s gift to you this Christmas! In a few days Christians and families will come together to open their gifts. God has a Christmas gift to you – wrapped not in bright paper, but in ‘swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ It is the gift of His Son. It is for you. The gift is still there. It must be personally received.
One of my favorite carols is the Philip Brooks carol “O little town of Bethlehem”! He writes:
How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given. But God imparts to human hearts, the blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, Where meek souls will, receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in. So He does – May that be your experience this Christmas!
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