The Christ in Christmas

1. Away in a manger, no crib for His bed,⁰¹

The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head;

The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,

The little Lord Jesus, asleep in the hay.

2. The cattle are lowing, the poor Baby wakes.⁰²
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.

I love thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky.

And stay by the cradle till morning is nigh.⁰³

3. Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,

Close by me forever, and love me, I pray!

Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care

And take us to heaven, to Live with Thee there.

written around 1890’s

baby’s dont lay down their sweet heads until they are fed, comfortable , and tired

baby’s only way to say “something is wrong” is to cry

(hungry, I’ve got gas, i am wet, i am dry, the cow breathing in my face stinks)

this song describes the infant as inhuman (as if crying was a sin that He could not commit)

myth often invades truth and distracts us from what should be our focus

christmas becomes the focus of an angelic child who doesn’t even inconvenience his parents

slowly becoming more about trees, gifts, blinking lights, and peace on earth for all men

ok … it’s about Christ, right ?

the word Christ in greek means chosen one (anointed one which means chosen of God for a specific purpose or task)

kings were anointed to rule

prophets anointed to speak the word of the Lord

priests could be anointed to represent the people and make sacrifices on behalf of those people

healing of injuries was often preceded by the application of oil during prayer

the anointing was a marking (called out to fulfill the purpose one has been chosen for) and symbolized the coming/blessing of the Holy Spirit to help the anointed person carry out their appointment 

the anointing was general carried out with oil

(which symbolizes the coming and work of the Holy Spirit

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah (1 Samuel 16:13 NKJV).

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him (Acts 10:38 NRSV).

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1 TNIV).

Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray over him after anointing him with olive oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:14 HCSB).

anointing oil was a way to publicly mark out someone as “called by God”

The OT speaks with prophecies of someone who would be called out to fulfill all of these roles

King, Prophet, Priest, and Healer

this person was called the Messiah

the biblical references about Him are called “Messianic prophecies” because they unveil something in the future about the Messiah that mere human wisdom could not foresee or guess. These predictions have enough detail to rule out guesswork, with a lapse of time between the prediction and its fulfillment. 

There are hundreds of prophecies that are considered Messianic. Some are direct, like the prophecy that the 

Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).  

Messiah would be born of a virgin

• Genesis 3:15 says seed of a woman (where the bible usually refers to seed as coming from the man = where the word semen comes from)
• Isaiah 7:14 a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and will call His name Immanuel (wait , His name is Jesus)
  • Isaiah 9:6 He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
  • Luke 1:32 will be called the Son of the Most High, the Son of God
  • Jeremiah 23:6 In his days Judah will be saved, and ^dIsrael will ^edwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ^f‘The Lord is our righteousness
  • Matt 1;21 (Luke 2:21) She will give birth to a Son; and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Others are indirect, or they present a figure, such as the concept that the Messiah would relieve Israel’s struggles through his own life as He suffered and died (Isaiah 52:13-15; Isaiah 53). 

Psalm 22 describes the suffering savior in additional details (and it is Psalm 22:1 that Jesus would quote on the cross)

psalm 22:8 predicts casting lots for his clothing

Like pieces of a grand puzzle, each piece of prophecy contributes to the whole to present a clearer picture of the Messiah and His role.

According to Deuteronomy 18:20-22, a prophecy must be 100% accurate

(this means that 100% of the prophecies about the Messiah must be fulfilled for the one claiming to be Messiah to be true)

Evidence that Demands a Verdict (written by Josh McDowell)

the OT contains over 300 references about the Messiah to be fulfilled 

over 300 distinct prophecies, 

written by different men of different professions (from a shepherd to a King) l

iving at different times, 

over a time period of 1400 years, 

in three different languages 

from 2 continents! 

PROPHECIES OF HIS 

BIRTH (method and location)

DEATH (method, style, duration)

RESURRECTION

the odds of Jesus being born in Bethlehem is approx 1 in 300,000

the odds of a virgin birth are incalculable and do not have any odds (since it would be naturally impossible)

Peter Stoner, Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena College, was passionate about biblical prophecies. With 600 students from the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Stoner looked at eight specific prophecies about Jesus. They came up with extremely conservative probabilities for each one being fulfilled, and then considered the likelihood of Jesus fulfilling all eight of those prophecies.

The conclusion to his research was staggering. The prospect that anyone would satisfy those eight prophecies was just 1 in 10¹⁷. In Science Speaks, he described it like this:

“Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10¹⁷ silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.

“Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.”

Dr. Stoner then computed the odds of one individual that could fulfill just 48 prophecies relating to Christ. He calculated the odds at 1 X 10 (to the 157th power) — or 1 followed by 157 zeros. This figure is astronomical and beyond human comprehension, but Christ fulfilled 

Jesus Christ fulfilled every prophecy in the bible 100% (odds are 1 in 10 to the 157th power just for the biggest 48)

on a good night, the human eye can see approx 3000 stars in the night sky (some of these points of light are galaxies)

a hobby telescope will increase that to approx 100,000 stars (that is 10 to the 4th power)

our galaxy is estimated to contain 100 billion stars (that is 10 to the 11th power

conservative estimates indicate at least 100 billion galaxies in our known universe

also = 10 to the 11th power)

using our galaxy with the 10 to the 11th power as a model 

factoring that with the estimated galaxies

we end up with staggering number of 10 to the 22 power (what would be stated as 10 billion trillion

if each person on the planet with a population of 6 billion, was given their equal portion of these stars,

each person would receive more than 1 trillion starts (1,000,000,000,000) 10 followed by 12 zeros

anyone remember the odds of fulfilling the largest 48 prophecies ?

1 in 10 to the 157th power

(just 8 prophecies was 1 in ten to the 17th power)

no one else has come close to fulfilling 2-3 of these prophecies let alone 8, or or 48 (and only Jesus satisfied all 300plus)

two cultures came together (Hebrew and Greek)

two kingdoms came together in this Messiah (Gods and mans)

two universes came together in Him (Physical and Spiritual) incarnation

so that all would become one through Him.

a baby, born of a virgin, forced to travel to Joseph’s town of origin (for a roman census) Bethlehem (meaning house of bread),

was first recognized for who He was by an umborn baby in the womb of Elizabeth (mary’s cousin)

then recognized , by astrologers from the Medo-Persian Empire who will will travel great distances to welcome Him

(bringing gifts of God, Frankinscense, and Myrrh)

then recognized by shepherds (once they are told of the birth by Angels)

a child, born in an animal stall, laid in a feeding trough for the animals, wrapped in the same clothes used to wrap lambs marked for sacrifice,

given birth by a young woman who has never had sex with a man, protected by a man who had every reason and excuse to put her aside and have her stoned to death as an adulterer. … in a town where people are too busy to make room for them even in the inn.

Jealous kings would have thousands of children slain in an attempt to eliminate his existence.

Cultures would war over His words

billions would ignore his words

a handful would follow and listen, passing on His words

inviting others to receive Him

to accept a free gift from God the Father given to a world at war with its creator

the all power God of the Universe changing life on earth for any man who would believe

by presenting Himself as a baby in the lowliest of ways and places …

Christ in Christmas is about the birth of the long awaited Messiah who would save us from our slavery to our sins.

when you look at your christmas tree:

consider the star at the top

consider the shining ornaments hanging on the tree

consider the gifts waiting to be opened 

and think of the star proclaiming His birth

consider Jesus hanging on the tree for our sins

consider the gift of sacrifice for us, and the gift of life offered to those who will accept and unwrap the Word given to us

remind your children that is is all about Jesus Christ (the Savior, chosen by God)