Back to Bethlehem

Let's pray together. Lord God, we thank you so much for the blessing of worship and the blessing of your salvation. We thank you so much that we can be here today to celebrate you. We thank you, Lord, that you have allowed us an opportunity to worship together, together as a body of believers to lift your name on high. We pray that this Christmas season would be extraordinary for all of us because we would have seen the hand of the living God among us and celebrate you for who you are today. As we go back to Bethlehem, Lord, once again, remind us of the great truth of your character, that we might be true worshipers of the living God.

We ask in Jesus name. Amen. If you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 2.

Luke chapter 2. Now, Luke 2 is a very familiar story because it's the Christmas story. And for the most part, those of us who have grown up in church have heard the story over and over again. And the unique thing about the story is that it's like a diamond. It never loses its luster. It never wears out. That's why women love diamonds. See, they, they want diamonds for Christmas because they never lose their luster. They never wear out. They only increase in value. Well, that's, that's like the Christmas story.

It always shines bright and it never wears out. But unfortunately, there are some people who get bored with the Christmas story. I don't want to bore you today. I really want to bless your life with this story. But unfortunately, there are people who have heard the story over and over again and have become bored with that story. Well, a number of years ago, A.W. Tozer wrote a book and he entitled it, And He Dwelt Among Men. It's a book dealing with the gospel of John, specifically dealing with spiritual boredom in the evangelical church.

Because the church has become so bored with the familiar story of Christ. In that book, he states these words, spiritual boredom occurs simply when Christians become addicted to the activity of the world around them, to the exclusion of the helpful spiritual disciplines. According to Mr. Tozer, spiritual boredom is the consequence of immaturity. The immature are easily bored with anything that is routine. They want to liven up their life with excitement, action and activity. Whereas the Christian life should be nurtured by daily disciplines.

And is it not true that the Christian life can be parallel to a marriage? In order to have a great marriage, it takes the daily grind and the daily discipline of cultivating that love relationship with your spouse. I mean, we can go away on retreats and we can go away on vacations and get excited about those things. But you know, your marriage can't live from retreat to retreat or vacation to vacation. It goes through the daily grind of each and every day. Well, the same thing is true in the spiritual life, the Christian life.

The Christian life is built on the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study, worship, service. Those daily disciplines that if not practiced on a regular basis, your life will become boring, routine. And yet without that routine, you cannot have a vibrant spiritual walk with the Lord. Mr. Tozer goes on and says these words. He says, to a large degree, familiarity has brought boredom to the evangelical church, especially in America. We have heard the same thing repeated until we are bored. I do not blame those who repeat because it is necessary that we continue to say the same thing over and over again because it is necessary that we continue to say the same thing.

What I complain about is that we are unconscious of the presence of the one who can take the and make it brilliantly new. We are dying by degrees in evangelical circles because we are resting in the truth of the word and are forgetting that there is a spirit of the word without which the truth of the word means nothing to the human spirit. In other words, he says, there is the word of God, but what livens that word is the presence of the spirit of God within the man. That is the Christmas story. It is not just that God would dwell among us.

That is what Emmanuel means, that God will be among us, but the fact that God will be in us. And how can we ever be bored if God is in us? I have always marveled at people who say, well, you know, I am bored with church, I am bored with spirituality, I am bored with the Christian life. Well, if God is in you, how can you ever be bored? I do not get that. That makes absolutely no sense to me because you have the living word of God, God himself, who dwells within our lives. That is what the Christmas story is.

That is why it can never be boring or dull to us who hear it, because it reminds us of the great gift of eternal life, the great gift of the eternal one who lives within us. The reason we become bored is because we are more concerned about the material world on the outside instead of the eternal word on the inside. There is your answer to boredom. Your answer to boredom is that you are more concerned about the material world on the outside instead of the eternal word on the inside, because the eternal word is nothing, nothing like you can ever imagine.

Definitely not boring. And the Christmas story is about the eternal word who came to dwell within man. And so I want to take you back to Bethlehem and I want to teach you seven truths about God from a very familiar story that will help us come to grips with the reality of Christmas and what it truly means to those of us who love the living God. Luke chapter two, verse number one, now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria and all were proceeding to register for the census, everyone to his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David in order to register along with Mary who was engaged to him and was with child. The very first lesson you learn when you study about Bethlehem is the lesson you learned about the predetermination of God, the predetermination of God.

God predetermines everything, everything. Caesar had decreed that a census should be taken of the inhabited earth. That would require me to go back to my hometown. That would require Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem and they would go and they would register with their name, their names, their age, their occupation, the size of family and where they were now living. But it required them to go back to their original hometown. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. It would take time to travel 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

They couldn't get in their minivan and take a trip that would take them just a few hours at best. No. They couldn't take a flight. They couldn't take a bus. They couldn't take a taxi and they couldn't even call ahead on their cell phone for reservations. They had to travel either by carriage or by the backside of a donkey or walk to Bethlehem and Mary was pregnant. Now I don't know about you, but I know how my wife would respond if she was required to take a 90 mile trip at nine months of pregnancy.

She would not be the most joyous person to live with. Now I don't know how Mary responded, the Bible didn't tell us, but they had to go. So the whole world would read the headlines in the Jerusalem Post or the Nazareth Gazette and they would read about what their responsibility was because the Caesar had given a decree. But in reality it was God's movement. It was the mastery of God at work. So let me say this to you.

Whatever your situation today, whatever your Christmas is going to be about, it was all predetermined by God in eternity past. Every event that's happening right now in your life is not by coincidence nor is it by accident. It all happened by the predetermined plan of God for you this day. You must understand that. God would take this pagan ruler, cause him to decree a census to be taken because we know from the book of Proverbs that the king's heart is like water in the hand of God and God directs it every which way he pleases.

The king can't do anything unless God decrees it. So in order for the taxation to happen, in order for the secular government to be paid, God would move in the heart of this pagan king because there was a prophecy given 500 years earlier. A prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. How would the baby Jesus be born in Bethlehem if Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth? God was going to move them all because he had a plan. It was the predetermined plan of God.

Galatians 4 verse 4 says, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law in order to redeem those who were under that law. In the fullness of time, in other words, it's a phrase that means at the right time, at the exact time God sent forth his son. In other words, everything was just right politically, everything was just right economically, everything was just right religiously and spiritually for God to send forth his son at this time. So for God to send forth his son, he would have to move Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

So he would move in the heart of a secular king to make a rule that would really go against the grain of Mary and Joseph at this time of their lives to accomplish his ultimate purpose. There are things happening in your life this day that go against the grain of your happiness, that go against the grain of everything you dream of. But be assured of this, it was all predetermined by God in the eternity past. God is moving. He is moving, in this case, the world to bring two people to Bethlehem. God is moving to deal with your life in the way he pleases.

This Christmas, when you go back to Bethlehem, remember the predetermination of God. Nothing happens by chance. Nothing happens by accident. Nothing happens by coincidence. Everything, according to Romans 11, comes from God, goes through God, and goes back to him again. So whatever your situation, physically, or spiritually, or financially, mentally, or emotionally at this time today, it was all predetermined in the plan and mind of God, because he wants to do a work in and through your life. The predetermination of God is learned when you go back to Bethlehem.

That's not a boring lesson. That's a blessed lesson. There's somebody in control of this mess that I find myself in. There's somebody in control of this world in which I live, and God is at work. The second thing you learn when you go back to Bethlehem is not only the predetermination of God, but you learn about the incarnation of God.

The incarnation is just a big word that means the enfleshment of God, God becoming man. You find that in verse 6, in the first part of verse 7.

And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son. They were there. And while they were there in Bethlehem, she gave birth. I've always wondered, did Mary and Joseph know the prophecy of Micah 5, verse number 2? Mary knew that what she had in her womb was the Christ child. She knew that because of Luke 1. She knew that she was giving birth to the Messiah. Did she know Micah 5, verse number 2? Did Joseph know Micah 5, verse number 2?

Did they know that on their journey from Nazareth to the rugged terrain of the land of Israel, if you've been to Israel, Israel's filled with just boulders and stone and rocks. It's not a smooth terrain at all. And to make that journey would be very rough indeed for whoever would embark on that travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And so I wonder if on the way Joseph and Mary would read out of the Old Testament about the coming of the Messiah in Micah 4 and in Micah chapter 5. I wonder if that was their encouragement.

I have no idea because the Bible does not say. But while they were there, she gave birth. This was the enfleshment of God. God becoming man. You go back to Bethlehem, and what should ring loud in the heart and mind of the believer is the incarnation of God. Now the very fact that Jesus is God has been disputed all down through the ages by everybody, except for those who truly believe that Jesus is God. The Bible says over in Luke chapter 1, as the angel Gabriel would come to Mary.

Verse 26, now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the descendants of David. The virgin's name was Mary. Coming in, he said to her, Hail, favored one. The Lord is with you. She was greatly troubled at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.

You shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I'm a virgin? And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason, the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. Behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age.

She who was called barren is now her sixth month, for nothing will be impossible with God. Now, I'll be the first to let you know, I don't understand the incarnation.

I don't understand the birth of the Messiah. I don't understand it. I don't understand the birth, the normal birth of my children. I don't get that either. I don't get how a man and woman can come together, and next thing you know, there's a child there. That child grows and becomes an adult. I don't get all that stuff. Doctors don't either. They might say they do, but they don't get it. Nobody really gets conception and birth. The miracle of birth is beyond human comprehension. Well, the miracle of the incarnation, God becoming man, way beyond human comprehension.

But Bethlehem is about the incarnation of God. Even way back in Genesis chapter 3, verse number 15, the very first prophecy about the virgin birth, that the seed of the woman shall crush the serpent's head.

Now, the Jewish rabbis will tell you that the seed is Israel, and the serpent is the Gentile nations. Well, there's a problem with that because the word seed is singular, not plural. And because it's singular, it deals with one seed, one individual. And the very first prophecy about the virgin birth is Genesis 3.15, that a woman will have a seed.

No woman has ever had a seed. The man has a seed. But according to Genesis chapter 3, the woman will have the seed. That's why the Bible says in Galatians 4.4, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son born of a woman.

It's a phrase that indicates the absence of a man. Now, the question comes, did the rabbis know that? Did the rabbis understand that? Well, you know, the verse in Isaiah 7, verse number 14, you'll get it on the Christmas card sometime this Christmas season. Isaiah 7.14 says, therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Now, the word Alma for virgin is used nine times in the Old Testament.

Eight of those nine times, it specifically refers to a virgin woman. In this case, they say, well, it refers to a young maiden. Well, the problem with that is that that can't be a sign because young maidens have babies. I mean, a woman having a baby is not a sign. Women have babies all the time. That's no sign. What's the sign? That a woman, having never known a man, will have a child. And if you read Matthew chapter 1, verses 21 to 23, there's a divine interpretation of Isaiah 7.14 when the Greek word Parthenos is used to describe specifically a woman who has never known a man.

So we know that Mary was a virgin. We know that the impossibility in our minds is a possibility with the Lord God because nothing's impossible for him. But whether you know it or not, the rabbis did teach that the Messiah would not have an earthly father. How do we know that? Book of Jeremiah, 31st chapter, 22nd verse says this. How long will you go here and there, O faithless daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth. A woman will encompass a man. All the ancient rabbis taught that this verse would be a guarantee that the Messiah would not have an earthly father.

How do we know that? Well, the word bara, create, means to create out of nothing, okay? And it says, for the Lord will create out of nothing a new thing on the earth. So what's going to happen is completely new. It's never been done before. It never will be repeated again. It says, a woman will encompass a man. That woman would either encompass a man by holding him in her arms, which is a secondary application, but the primary application is that she would encompass a man. The man would be in the womb and the woman would encompass that man.

But the unique translation is she would encompass not just an ordinary man, as the text says, but she would encompass Geber, which is from Gebor, which means the mighty God. Same word used, by the way, over in chapter 32, verse number 18, which says, these words, who show us loving kindness to thousands, who repay us the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children, after them, O great and mighty God, Geber. So the woman who encompasses a man, encompasses more than a man. He encompasses or she encompasses the mighty God, the Messiah God.

So the rabbis did teach and they did believe that the woman who would bear the Messiah would do so without the action of a man. And when we read the story of Bethlehem, when we read about what took place, when the angel came to Mary, we know that this virgin, this young virgin conceived through the power of the Spirit of God. And therefore, we go back to Bethlehem, we learn about not only the predetermination of God, we learn about the incarnation of God. And that tells us this, that no matter what the situation, no matter what the circumstance, God is big enough and powerful enough to handle it.

Because some of you at this Christmas are in situations that you don't think that God's big enough or powerful enough to handle, but He is. And that's why you go back to Bethlehem, because nothing is impossible with God. It's impossible with you, it's impossible with me. We can't do what God can do, but He is the mighty God. He is the everlasting God. He is the King of the world. Nothing's impossible with Him. So we go back to Bethlehem, we learn about, number one, the predetermination of God.

Number two, the incarnation of God. And number three, the humiliation of God. The humiliation of God. Verse seven, Luke chapter two says this, She wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the end. The humiliation of God. It's one thing for God to become man. It's another thing for the God-man to be treated as if He's nothing. The humiliation of God. We know Philippians chapter two, He took on the form of servant, He humbled Himself and became obedient even unto death, the death of a cross.

The humiliation of God. Now for those of you who have been with me to Israel, those of you who will be going this March, we go to a place in Bethlehem called the shepherd fields because there is a grotto there. Christ was born in a grotto. It's a cave. We know that from the context of Luke two and know where they would house horses and cows and the livestock. And when you go into these grottos, they're cold, they're damp, and they all smell. But when there are animals present and there are animal excrement present, it really begins to smell.

Now, I don't know about you, but you know, when my wife is about to deliver, she wants to deliver in the cleanest place possible. She wants there to be a sterile environment. Mary did not have a sterile environment. Anything but that, would you not agree? The smell would be atrocious. And so they come to this place in Bethlehem. There is no room in the inn. I mean, you can imagine Mary and Joseph, we have the Son of God in my wife's womb. The Messiah is going to be born. We need a place to stay. I mean, that's what I would say.

I mean, give me a break. The Son of God, the Almighty King of the universe is about to be born. Give us a room. There is no room. There's no place to stay except in a grotto, in a cave-like place, cold, damp, dark, and smells to high heaven. So you can imagine Joseph having to move out the excrement, move out everything, and place for a place for there to be a delivery. If my wife was going to give birth to a child, the one person she would not want to help her deliver the child would be me. And here was Joseph.

There was no other woman present to help deliver the child. It was Mary and Joseph. That's it. She placed him in a feeding trough, and I know that most people have these feeding troughs. You put them outside in your front yard. You have them in your house made out of wood. You know, I got news for you. It wasn't made out of wood. It was made out of stone. It was carved out of stone. And you know what? Joseph wasn't a carpenter as we understand him. He was a mason. Did you know that? He would not cut wood.

He would cut stone. And if you go to Israel, you see all these feeding troughs. You can go to Megiddo, on top of Megiddo. And there you understand that the feeding troughs were made out of stone, and they're cut in a half circle kind of way so that the food and the water can be placed in that feeding trough. A feeding trough in the land of Israel was cut out of stone. It was not made out of wood. Now you learned something new, didn't you? Aren't you glad you came amidst all the rain? To learn about where the Lord Jesus was placed in a cold stone trough, the humiliation of God.

Now here is my King, your King, our Lord, our Maker, the beautiful, wonderful, mighty God placed in the realm of humiliation. This Christmas, the lesson for us is that amidst the predetermination of God for your life, and the incarnation of God, and the power of God being displayed so many times, we need to take on the character of our God and humble ourselves. So many times we don't want to do that. We're too prideful. We're too prideful. We don't think that what's happened to us should have happened to us because we're better than that.

We don't deserve this. Really? Whenever you had this little phrase, I don't deserve this, it's the hallmark of arrogance and pride on your part. You don't deserve this? What don't you deserve? You deserve hell. You have life. You're allowed to live one more day. And in the humiliation of God, you learn about how it is we to humble ourselves before Him and follow in His footsteps. You go back to Bethlehem, you learn about the predetermination of God, the incarnation of God, the humiliation of God.

You also learn the consolation of God. The consolation of God. Listen to what it says, verse 8, and in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over the flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of a great joy, which will be for all the people. For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a cold stone feeding trough. That's your sign. This is the consolation of God, because God is so good. The angels appear, and the glory of the Lord would shine all around these shepherds out in the shepherd fields. And if you've been to Israel, and you've been there at night, and you're outside in the shepherd fields, the stars are so bright, they almost light up the night. But all of a sudden there would be this glory of the Lord that would shine all around them.

And they were, of course, frightened, as you would be. And you will note that throughout the Christmas story, Zacharias was frightened when the angel came to him. Mary was frightened when the angel came to her. And the shepherds were frightened when the angel showed up in the fields of Bethlehem. You want to know why? Because those who love God are greatly afraid of God. That's why. Fear was that common characteristic of all those people who came in contact with what God was doing among them. But the consolation was, don't be afraid.

We bring to you good news. The good news that always produces great joy. This is the good news. A Savior has been born for you. In the city of David, a Savior was Christ the Lord. The Messiah has arrived. The Lord God is here. That is your consolation. That is your comfort. You see, the Word of God always consoles, always consoles the troubled heart. It does. Nothing like God's Word can console, comfort the troubled heart. Only the Word of God can do that. So the angel would speak forth that Word, that Word that would bring and produce joy in their lives.

And that's why this Christmas, when you find yourself engaged in that predetermined plan of God that you might like or not like, and you begin to go back to Bethlehem and learn about the incarnation of God, the power of God to do whatever he chooses to do, and you learn about the humiliation of God, remember the consolation that God gives. It comes through his Word and his Word only. Nothing else. That's where the great consolation comes from, his Word. And then on top of that, you have the glorification of God.

I think that's number five. The glorification of God, right? There's this great glory. Look what it says in verse number 13. And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased, or literally of his good pleasure. There is peace to those that God decides to show pleasure toward. They experience that peace. But notice the glory that's given.

Glory to God in the highest. You see, when truth has been made known, God's glory then is put on display. And there is that glorification of God. The shepherds did the same thing. They would make haste, and they would go to Bethlehem because they want to see this Word, this thing, this reality that was spoken to them. And they would make haste, and they would go to Bethlehem. And they would begin to tell, as the story goes, to explain to Mary and Joseph everything the angel said to them. And then after they would leave, the Bible says in verse 20, and the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

God was glorified once again. What do you learn about Bethlehem? You learn about the predetermination of God, the incarnation of God, the humiliation of God, the consolation of God, the glorification of God. But next you learn about the redemption of God. The redemption of God. Bethlehem is about his redeeming purposes. If you read Galatians 4, it says that, in the fullness of time, God sent forth a son born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those who are under the law.

The story of Christmas is a story of redemption. But to understand why Bethlehem is so unique, why it is that God in his predetermined plan chose Bethlehem, the city of kings, the city of David, you have to go all the way back to Genesis chapter 35. So if you've got your Bible turned, Genesis 35. In Genesis 35, you have the story of Rachel. And with the story of Rachel and Jacob, you have an understanding of Bethlehem and the redemption of God. Verse 16, then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor.

And it came about when she was in severe labor that the midwife said to her, do not fear, for now you have another son. By the way, the Christmas story is about not fearing because everybody involved in the Christmas story was fearful, including Rachel 4,000 years ago. Do not fear. Do not fear. For now you have another son. That's important. Why? Because she named the first son who?

Joseph, which means dad. God will add to me another son. And Rachel believed that God would give her another son. Well, on the way to Ephrath from Bethel, she began to give birth. And the midwife said, do not fear. God has answered your prayer. You're going to have another son. And it came about as her soul was departing for she died that she named him Ben-Oni, meaning son of my sorrow. But his father, Jacob, called him Ben-Hamin, son, not of my sorrow, but of my strength, the son of my right hand.

Because in the death of Benjamin, listen carefully, is a type of Christ. Because the son of God's right hand would be born where? In Bethlehem. Now read on. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath. That is what? Bethlehem. And Jacob set up a pillar over her grave. That is the pillar of Rachel's grave. What's the next phrase? To this day. Now the word of God is the living and abiding word of God. It's never outdated. So to this day means to this day, Christmas 2010. If you go to Bethlehem today, the very first thing the guides will tell you on your way to Bethlehem is this.

Over to my left, you will see a tower. There is Rachel's tomb. Why do they tell you that? Because to this day, that tomb is still there. Read on. Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Adair. Migdal Adair, the tower of the flock. Now that's important. Turn to Micah chapter 4. Micah chapter 4, not Micah chapter 5, but Micah chapter 4. Because Micah chapter 5 verse number 2 was only understood in the context of Micah 4 verse number 8. And as for you, Migdal Adair, the tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you it will come.

What will come? Even the former dominion will come. The kingdom of David. The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem. To Migdal Adair, the same place where Rachel's tomb is, the question comes, why is Bethlehem on the north side called the tower of the flock or Migdal Adair where Rachel's grave is to this day? For the simple reason that in Bethlehem, some five or six miles south of Jerusalem, is the place where they raised all sacrificial lambs for Passover. They would raise them in Bethlehem. The tower of the flock was a shepherd's tower where they would climb up on that tower and be able to oversee the shepherd fields and be able to watch for prey that would come upon the lambs.

See, Bethlehem was more than just the city of kings. It was a city where all the sacrificial lambs were born and raised so they would be sacrificed in Jerusalem, just like our Messiah, the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. So when you read Micah 5 verse number 2, it says, but as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. In other words, the one born is from eternity.

He is everlasting. Well, to be everlasting, you yourself have to be what? Everlasting. So in Micah 5 verse number 2, it proves that in Bethlehem, the ruler of the king of Israel will be from everlasting to everlasting. He will be the eternal one, and there's only one who's eternal, and that's the God, the Lord God of Israel. See that? So you have the redemption of God when you go back to Bethlehem. Oh, by the way, number seven, is it? Oh yeah, the satisfaction of God. Did you know that? You go back to Bethlehem to learn about the satisfaction of God.

Bethlehem is called the house of what? Bread, right? Know what Bethlehem means? The house of bread. Jesus in John 6 would say that he was the bread of what? Life, the bread of life. He who feeds on me will never hunger. He who comes to me will never thirst. He was born in Bethlehem, the house of bread, because only he would be able to satisfy your spiritual hunger, your spiritual thirst. When you go back to Bethlehem, you learn about the satisfaction of God. There's only one who can satisfy you, only one.

Nobody else can. No gift you get at Christmas will satisfy you long-term. You might make you happy on Christmas Day because you got the cell phone you wanted or the iPod you wanted or whatever else of the high-tech stuff we use in this environment that you wanted. It might make you satisfied for just a brief moment, but it won't satisfy you forever and for eternity. Only the eternal one can do that, right? That's why Simeon said, now I can die in Luke chapter 2. I've seen the Messiah. I've seen him face to face.

I've held him in his arms, in my arms. Now I can die because Simeon was satisfied with one thing, seeing the Messiah of Israel. In Bethlehem, we go back there, we learned about the satisfaction of God. How many people do you know this Christmas season are unsatisfied with life? They're unsatisfied with their marriage, their family, their job, their life, everything. Well, the reason you go back to Bethlehem is because there's only one person who can satisfy your life, only one. And until you realize that, you will be so miserable in your life.

That's why you got to go back to Bethlehem to realize that the bread of life is the one who will sustain you and cause you to live for the glory and honor of God. One more thing, by the way, when you go back to Bethlehem, you learn about the predetermination of God, the incarnation of God, the humiliation of God, the consolation of God, the glorification of God, the redemption of God, the satisfaction of God, but you learn one more thing. You learn about your decision for God, your decision for God.

You see, you can't read the Christmas story without making a decision. You can't even celebrate Christmas without making a decision. You can't do anything with the Christmas story without making a decision. Yes, He is Savior. Yes, He is Messiah. Yes, He is Lord. I will submit to Him. I will follow Him or no, He's not. It's one or the other, right? He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Not only is He God in flesh, but He is the satisfier of man's deepest longings.

He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. But there comes a decision, right? Not to decide is to decide. Not to decide is a decision. You might not think it's a decision. You say, well, I'm not sure if I want to follow Christ or not follow Christ. Listen, not to decide is to decide no for Christ. Bethlehem and going back there helps remind us that there is a decision that must be made. A decision that says, yes, this is the Messiah. He was born to take away my sin. He was born in humiliation because He came to save the lowly, the poor, the imprisoned.

He came to take away our sin and I will follow Him with all that I have for the rest of my life because He is my King, my Lord, my Savior. The opposite of that is to say, well, it's just a story. It's just a story about a woman who claims to have had a virgin birth. It's just about a story about a little small town in Judea that we sing about, we read the story about, but we don't believe. What about you? Do you believe the Christmas story? Do you believe what Bethlehem teaches? If you do, then you will decide to follow Christ and follow Him only.

If you don't, you won't follow Him. My prayer for you and for all those that you know this Christmas season, they would decide that Jesus is exactly who He said He was and they will give their life to Him and follow Him. Let's pray together. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, what a great day. What a glorious day. We thank You so much for the truth of Your Word. Truly, Lord, You are a great God. And You alone are worthy to be praised. Our prayer today is that there would be no one who would leave today without knowing You as their Lord and Savior.

They would give their life to Christ and follow only Jesus. We pray in Your name. Amen.