Reasons to Rejoice, Part 2

Christmas is summed up in three words. One is expectation, the other is celebration, and the other is anticipation. If you understand those words, you understand Christmas.

Before there was a celebration, there was an expectation. You've heard me say over the years that how you celebrate the first Advent will determine how you anticipate the second Advent. Your inability to celebrate the first coming of Christ or understand the reason for His coming will cause you not to anticipate His second coming.

But if you understand the reason why He came, you live in anticipation of His return. Before there was an anticipation, before there was a celebration, there was an expectation. Israel lived in expectation of their coming Messiah.

They had no idea when He was going to arrive, but they knew the prophecies in the Old Testament. And they would review them over and over again. And so they would live in a state of expectation of the arrival of the Messiah.

Unfortunately, after years have gone by, very few had that longing. Simeon, though, was one of those men who had that longing. He was promised by the Lord that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Christ or the Lord's Messiah.

Please understand that the Messiah is the Lord's Messiah. He is not Israel's Messiah. He is not your Messiah.

He is the Lord's Messiah. So in Luke chapter 2, Luke records for us that Simeon, who was looking for the consolation of Israel, he was living in a state of expectation, that he would not die until he saw the Lord's Messiah. On that day that Mary and Joseph came to dedicate him to the Lord, the acts of purification, there it was that Simeon took the Lord's Christ into his arms and blessed him.

His words are recorded in Luke chapter 2, where he says, Now, Lord, you are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace. In other words, I can die now. I've lived for one purpose.

I've lived for one expectation, that I might see the Lord's Messiah. So he says, You are releasing your bondservant to depart in peace according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.

He quotes the Old Testament. He understands the Old Testament. He understands what it means to have the light of revelation shine down upon his people Israel and for the nations surrounding him.

He gets that from the prophet Isaiah. Chapter 60, verse number 1, it says, Arise, shine, for your light has come. The word light appears 272 times in your Bible.

177 of those times, they're in the Old Testament. The rest are in the New Testament. And the light can refer to many things, but primarily it refers to the Messiah and his coming.

That's why Christ would say in John chapter 8 and John chapter 9, I am the light of the world. I am the bright and morning star, Revelation 22, 16. I am the day star, 2 Peter 1, verse number 19.

I am the sunrise that rises with healing in his wings, Malachi 4, verse number 2. So Isaiah the prophet, who by the way, gives us more details concerning the arrival of the Messiah, his activities in his ministry more so than any other prophet in the Old Testament, tells us that your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen among you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples, but the Lord will rise upon you and his glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Earlier, Isaiah chapter 9, Isaiah would say these words, the people who walk in darkness, verse 2, will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine upon them. So Simeon, who was looking and longing for the constellation of Israel, Anna, the prophetess, who was looking and longing for the redemption of Jerusalem, it says in Luke 2, lived in a state of expectation.

And those expectations were met in the arrival of the Messiah, which led to the celebration of the Messiah. That's why the Magi rejoiced with exceeding great joy when they saw the star, because Messiah had come. They too lived in a state of expectation.

In fact, they lived in a state of expectation for a long period of time. And they were Gentiles looking for the star that was prophesied from Numbers 24, verse number 17, that was taught to them by their parents, who were taught by Daniel while in Babylonian exile. There's so much about the Christmas story.

In fact, if you could just take a moment and just dive into my brain for just a moment, you'd see all the ideas that are in there and all the verses that are in there surrounding the Christmas story, because everything was pointed to that. That's why there was this expectation. That's why all the things that Christ was doing in the Old Testament was pointing the people to His ultimate arrival.

He wanted them to live in a state of expectation, always looking for the coming of their Messiah. Well, in Luke 2, He arrives. In Luke 2, verse number 11, you have the thesis of the Christmas story.

For unto you this day in the city of David has been born for you a Savior who is Christ the Lord. You know the first song of Christmas, right? The first song recorded in the Bible of Christmas. It's called the Magnificent, recorded by Mary.

I don't know if you know this or not, but this is what she says. My soul exalts the Lord, Luke 2, verse number 46. And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He has regard for the humble state of His bondslave. For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed. And the Mighty One has done great things for me.

And holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation to those who fear Him. He has done mighty deeds with His arm.

He has scattered those who were proud in their thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed.

He has given help to Israel His servant in remembrance of His mercy as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever. First Song of Christmas, written by a junior hire. Mary was around 12 1⁄2, maybe 13 years of age.

How do we know that? We know that because historians tell us that betrothals happen between the ages of 12 and 14. And most betrothals happen at the age of 12 1⁄2. So the words that Mary gives in the first song are words from what we would call a junior high student.

So parents, I want to ask you this question. What does your junior high student know about the arrival of the Messiah? What does your high school student know about the arrival of the Messiah? Would he or she be able to say He has done mighty things for me? That He is my Savior? That He is holy, mercy, and mighty full? Would he or she be able to record the kind of things that the Messiah accomplished and even deal with the Abrahamic covenant? It begs the question, what do we as parents do in teaching our children about the Christ? Mary knew. She went to the synagogue every day.

You probably go to church once a week. But she went to the synagogue every day. She was raised by parents who had instilled in her the essence of Old Testament prophecy.

She and Joseph had a plan. They were going to get married. They were going to have kids.

They were going to grow old together. And God changed all that real quick with the arrival of Gabriel to announce to Mary that she, being a virgin, would conceive and she would give birth to the Son of God. Their whole lives were turned upside down because they had to convince their parents that they were virgins.

How are you going to do that? They had to convince their neighbors that Mary had never known a man. But yet she was pregnant. Think about that.

The only way she could be sustained was because she knew the scriptures. By the way, the same way your junior high student will be sustained. For if they do not know the scriptures, they will fail miserably in life.

Which begs the question, do you bring your children to church? Do you put them in junior high and high school ministry? They might hear the words of God in the gospel and understand the truths of scripture. But they might come and be grounded in the word of God and grow deep in their understanding of God and then come in here and worship with you. Do you spend time at all talking to your children about the arrival of the Messiah and what it means? Understanding the prophecies surrounding His coming, His first coming.

We've written this book to give you a tool, The Christ of Christmas, that will help you in your efforts to train your children. And some would say, you know, it's too in-depth to understand. Yet we received a phone call last night from one of the members of our church who were going through the spotless lamb.

That was the day before yesterday. And their little child understood the spotlessness of the lamb and wanted to give their life to Christ. She's six.

You see, parents, ask yourself, what are you doing to invest in the lives of your children? What are you doing to make sure they're a part of a Bible-teaching church and a Bible-teaching youth ministry that they will grow in their walk with the Lord? Don't miss out on the opportunities. Mary's parents did not. Mary learned.

She grew. She understood. She was devout and righteous at 12 1⁄2.

It begs the question about us as parents, as adults, what is it we know about the Messiah that is coming? So her expectations grew immensely. So she writes this first song about her Savior because the reality of this person is the number one reason we rejoice at Christmas. That was last week's sermon.

Because the reality of this person teaches us to recognize his identity. He is Savior. He is Christ.

He is Lord. And therefore, we need to understand his identity. For when we do, we rejoice immensely because he's our Savior.

That verse in Luke 2 11 tells us that not only is he Savior, but he's Messiah. He's Christ. He's the Anointed One.

That's just a powerful statement. If you've been to Israel with me, journey back in time and think back with me when we made our journey down to the Dead Sea. And we stopped at a place called Qumran.

Qumran is a unique place. It's in the northern portion of the Dead Sea in the Judean wilderness. There it's where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.

11 caves, 800 manuscripts, each containing something about the Old Testament, every book in the Old Testament, except for the book of Esther. And Qumran was a communal place for priests and for devoted followers of the Lord, laymen. And they gathered in this place called Qumran because they were committed to the truths of the gospel, the truths of the Old Testament.

And so they would meticulously copy the Old Testament. And in the archaeological discovery of Qumran, there was found two manuals. One was called the Manual of Discipline, which talks to us about what communal living was like in Qumran.

The second manual was called the Testimonia. For in the Testimonia, it tells us their expectations of the coming Messiah and what they believed about the arrival of the Messiah. And when you begin to study the Testimonia and realize what it is they knew and yet did not know is astounding.

For they knew that there were three men in the Old Testament that were anointed, Elisha, the prophet, and then there was Aaron, the priest, and David, the king. They were called God's anointed. And they were anointed.

They were special individuals used by God in a special way. They also knew from the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18 that the Messiah would be a prophet. They also knew from the prophecy of Psalm 110 verse number 4 that the Messiah would be a priest.

And they also knew from Numbers 24 verse number 17 and Genesis 49 verse number 10 the Messiah would be a king. And yet they could not figure out how one person could be all three. There were prophets who were priests.

There were kings who were prophets. But in Israel's economy there was never a king who was a priest. For any king who tried to perform a priestly duty was disciplined by God severely.

Ask Isaiah or ask Saul. And yet the book of Zechariah says this, Behold a man whose name is Branch. It's the Netzir in Hebrew.

It's the shoot. It's another title for the Messiah. He will branch out from where he is and he will build the temple of the Lord.

Yes, it is he who will build the temple of the Lord and he who will bear the honor and sit and rule on his throne. Thus he will be a priest on his throne. And the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.

Somehow there's going to be a Messiah who's going to be the king. The Branch is going to be the king. He's going to sit on a throne.

But he's also going to be a priest. And there will be peace between the two offices. But the Messiah will also be a prophet.

The Bible says in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 23, these words, verse number 5, Behold the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. Again, title for the Messiah. He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.

In his day Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. And this is his name by which he will be called the Lord our righteousness. So to understand the reality of this person, you must understand his saviorship and his messiahship.

For as savior, he saves his people from their sin. He is the deliverer of man. But as messiah, he is your priest who makes intercession for you.

Who's the one mediator between God and man. As prophet, he speaks the truth. Because he told Pilate, I came to testify only to the truth.

As king, he sits on the throne of your life because you are citizens of his kingdom in which he rules. And so to understand the reasons why we rejoice at Christmas time is to come to grips with the reality of this person that he is savior, he is messiah, and he is Lord. And Kyrios is the word that's translated Lord.

And every time the word Yahweh or Jehovah is used in the Old Testament, in the situation, it's translated Kyrios. So therefore, what you have when Jesus says in John 8, 24, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. That is, I am the Lord who spoke to Moses from the burning bush.

I am the deliverer, the rescuer of man. Romans chapter 10 says, if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. You see, in order to be saved, you must understand the reality of this person.

He is savior, he is messiah, he is Lord. No one was ever saved without believing that Jesus is the messiah. John 20, 30, and 31.

These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the messiah and that believing in him, you'll have life in his name. You must understand the messiahship, saviorship, and lordship of Christ in order to be saved. Therefore, we rejoice because of the reality of this person.

The reality of this person teaches us to recognize his complete identity. That's why you rejoice at Christmas. Point number two.

The second reason you rejoice at Christmas is because of the eternality of his plan. If the reality of his purpose teaches us to recognize his identity, then the eternality of his plan teaches us to rest in his sovereignty. The eternality of his plan.

Remember that great Christmas verse on the majority of our Christmas cards? For unto you is born this day. No, I'm sorry. For unto you a son is given, for unto you a child is born.

And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. Notice it says name. Eight hundred times in the Old Testament, the word name is associated with the Lord.

Two hundred times in the New Testament, the word name is associated with the Lord. A thousand times in the Bible. And never one time is it plural.

Because God doesn't have names. He has one name. And the attributes of that name are multifaceted.

But he only has one name. It's a memorial name. In Exodus 3, I am that I am.

But his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace, Everlasting Father. Someone said, wait a minute. The son is not the father and the father is not the son.

Like the spirit is not the son, nor is the spirit the father. Nor is the father the spirit of the son. So how can the son that's given be called Everlasting Father? Well, you must understand the word father.

It means originator, creator, architect. The son that's given is the eternal creator. The eternal architect.

The eternal originator. In other words, he is the originator of eternity. Because he is the eternal God.

The Bible tells us in Isaiah chapter 40 that God is called the Everlasting God, El Olam. The Everlasting God. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy chapter 1 that Christ is the King of Eternity.

In Micah chapter 5, verse number 2, that great Christmas prophecy, 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.

How long ago? From the days of eternity. Speaking that what's going to come to Bethlehem is something that is of eternity. It's eternal.

You see, God has no beginning. He has no end. He exists in the past, present, and future all at the same time.

The eternality of God is unbelievable. And the reason we rejoice at Christmas is because of the eternality of his plan. In other words, God had a plan from eternity past about the redemption of man.

It didn't come about once Adam and Eve sinned, and God had to go to a secondary plan or plan B versus plan A. God only has one plan. It was established in eternity past. That's why your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life from eternity past.

That's when they were written down. To prove that there was nothing that you would do, any merit that you would accomplish that would cause God to save you. He chose you.

He selected you in eternity past that you might experience his redemption. That's the beauty of the plan of God, the eternality of his plan. And it runs with such precision.

That's why the verse for this one is Galatians chapter 4, verse number 4, when it says, But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. In the fullness of time, when everything had run its course, when man had seen the fullness of his sinfulness, the fullness of his helplessness, the fullness of his hopelessness, God sent forth his Son. At just the right time, the precision of his timing is perfect.

And so he would send his Son at just the right time that he might redeem those who were under the law, those who realized that there was no righteousness in and of themselves that would grant them entrance into glory. He sent forth his Son that he might bear in his body your sin, that you might bear in your body his righteousness. That's what the Lord did.

But it's the eternality of his plan. It's the perfection of his plan that was devised in eternity long ago. In other words, you have to understand the implications of this.

That God's plan is so precise and so perfect that he's never late. The precision of his plan, you can go back to Daniel 9 24-27, which is probably, by the way, the most significant prophecy in the Old Testament when it comes to the precision of time, when it talks about Daniel's 70 weeks of prophecy. At the conclusion of the 69 weeks of prophecy, the Messiah would come.

After 173,880 days precisely, the Messiah would arrive in Jerusalem, Luke 19 verse number 42. That's why Jesus said, if you'd have known on this day what was coming to you, if you'd have known the prophecy of Daniel 9 24-27, we know exactly when those 69 weeks began because they begin in Nehemiah chapter 2 verses 1-8. We know exactly when they are fulfilled in Luke chapter 19 verse number 42.

And Christ says, look, if you had just done the math, if you had just added up all the facts, you would have known that I would arrive in Jerusalem on this day, but you did not recognize the day of your visitation. That's so sad because so easily they could have recognized it. But they soon crucified him.

Because Daniel 9 24-27 also prophesies the cutting off of the Messiah, that he would die. And he did exactly as prophesied. And that's the greatness of Christmas prophecy.

These are the reasons we rejoice at Christmas. The reality of his person, the eternality of his plan. God has a plan.

It runs right on course. It says in the book of Acts, the 7th chapter, as Stephen is preaching, he's going through Israel's history. He says in verse number 17, but as the time of the promise was approaching, which God had assured to Abraham, God had given Abraham a precise time.

And so Stephen is recording that and rehearsing that. The people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose another king over Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph. It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants and they would not survive.

It was at this time that Moses was born. That's the Old Testament parallel to Galatians 4. In the fullness of time, Moses was born because he was going to be the deliverer of Israel from Egypt from physical bondage. In Galatians 4, in the fullness of time, Jesus was born.

Why? Because he was going to deliver you from your spiritual bondage. And so it was a precise time that Moses was born. There was a precise time that John the Baptist would be born.

And Elizabeth was in her 80s and so was Zacharias. They weren't getting any younger. They had given up on having children.

But God didn't want Zacharias and Elizabeth to have just another baby. He wanted them to have the greatest man ever born of a woman, John the Baptist. You wonder why you're not pregnant? You wonder why you haven't conceived? It's not God's precise time.

Because it's God who opens and closes the womb. God's in charge of all that stuff. That's why you need to understand the eternality of His plan.

It helps you to rejoice, not just at Christmas, but all throughout your life. For God is sovereign. Listen to this, Acts chapter 17.

Acts chapter 17. Paul says these words. The God who made the world, verse 24, and all the things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human hands as though He needed nothing, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.

In other words, God gives you everything. He gives you life, He gives you breath, He gives you all things. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him, and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and exist.

You see, you need to understand the eternality of His plan because it teaches you to rest in the sovereignty. Every baby that's born is born at the precise time. The life you live is under the decree of God.

Paul says in Acts 17, the location where you live is also decreed by God. Everything is. Because God's in complete control.

That's why the prophecies of Christmas are so unique. All the prophecies of the Bible are, but we're studying Christmas prophecies now. But to understand the uniqueness of them is to understand the hand of God in the life of every man and woman that's ever existed.

So when Israel found themselves under an Egyptian leader that mistreated them and abused them, that was all part of God's plan, to move them to want to be delivered and to move them out of Egyptian bondage. He would raise up a deliverer. And even when God raised them up and used Moses to deliver Israel from their Egyptian bondage, even then they wanted to kill Him, wishing they were back in Egypt, that they could die in peace.

But God was in charge of all those things. It's so important for us to recognize that our Lord never sleeps, nor does He slumber, for He is in charge of everything. Remember in the book of Acts, when the disciples had spent 40 days talking to the Lord, or the Lord had instructed them for 40 days about things pertaining to the kingdom? When it was all said and done, they had one question, only one question.

And they could have asked Him anything, but they asked Him one question. Is it now that you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Because they had spent just 40 days talking to the Lord, about the kingdom. So the natural question is, well, are you going to do it now? And what does Jesus say? It is not for you to know the times, or the epics, that the Father has fixed by His own authority.

The coming of the kingdom is a fixed time. It's set in stone. It's concrete.

It cannot be changed. And God knows that time. He has fixed that time.

Why? Because of the eternality of His plan. All this was organized in eternity past. It was always in the mind of God.

Everything was. He didn't learn anything. He didn't say, oh, that's a good idea.

Let me try that. No. He just knew the plan from the very beginning.

In fact, before the beginning, because He has no beginning. So much to comprehend. So much to understand.

But knowing that is to realize that God is sovereignly in control of every situation and every event in your life. Mary and Joseph had plans. Those plans were turned upside down when she conceived.

Everything was changed. Her plans changed, but God's plans didn't change. Because God had chosen her.

That's why He says, Gabriel says, Hail favored one, graced one. Of all the junior hires in Jerusalem, in Israel, God has graced you. God chose you.

Nobody else. Just like back in Genesis chapter 6. Every heart or every man's heart was evil continually. So was Noah's.

But the Bible says in Genesis 6 verse number 8 that God favored Noah. God graced Noah. He could have graced another family.

He graced Noah. Why? That's God's business. It's God's choice.

He decided to grace Noah and his family and no one else. Why? Because of His perfect eternal plan that runs on course. Remember Nebuchadnezzar? Nebuchadnezzar experienced this.

Book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 4 verse number 34. But at the end of the specific time period, it's so precise.

The time period in which he would crawl among the animals. At the specific period that had been accomplished because God had already decreed it. I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.

I praise the eternality of the Most High God. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, What have you done? This is the king speaking.

He is saying that no one can question the eternal God. Not even me, the king. Nebuchadnezzar.

Because no one can ward off His hand. No one can change Him. No one can challenge Him.

No one can do anything to scrutinize Him because He is the eternal God who sets in motion His eternal plan and nothing can thwart it. So He says these words. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven for all His works are true and His ways just and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

God's ways are true and just. They're always righteous. They're never unrighteous.

They're always true, never untrue. They're always holy, never unholy. They're always perfect, never imperfect.

And so when the fullness of time had come, when everything had been accomplished culturally, socially, politically, spiritually, at just the right time, God sent forth His Son to be born of a woman, to be born under the law, that He might redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons, the perfection of His plan. And the day you gave your life to Christ, whatever that was, is a day where eternity intersects time because the Lord lives above the realm of time. He's the creator of time, right? But He has no time.

But He creates time. When you gave your life to Christ, eternity intersected time, and you realize that your name was written down in eternity past, in the Lamb's Book of Life. And you celebrate.

You celebrate what Christ has done. And so the real reasons you rejoice, number one, is because of the reality of His person. It teaches you to recognize His identity.

Second reason is because of the eternality of His plan. It teaches you to rest in His sovereignty. He has everything under control.

How was it that Mary and Joseph, for nine months, would be able to explain what had happened to them? Who would believe that? But it's God's Word that sustained them. It's God's Word that protected them. It's God's Word that drove them to Egypt when Herod would kill all the children and bring them back again to Nazareth.

And God had watched over Mary and Joseph, protected them in a sovereign plan, just like He will do you and me, because God has sovereignty and control of every event in your life. That's why Paul says in Romans 11.36, all things are from Him, all things are through Him, and all things come back to Him again. To God be the glory forever and ever.

Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for today.

The time that we have is brief, but the opportunity You give us is enormous. We thank You. We pray, Lord, for everyone in the room today that none would leave without knowing that Your Savior, Your Messiah, You are Lord.

And Your plan is the perfect plan. And Lord, they would submit to Your Lordship, come and confess their sin, turn from the wickedness of their ways and embrace the Messiah, the Lord's Messiah, as their Redeemer and Savior. We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.