The Christ of Christmas, Part 4

The Christ of Christmas is the man of promise foretold and fulfilled. That's been our study throughout the month of December. Hopefully you've had a chance to read through the devotional each and every day to understand 25 different promises that were foretold and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Sometimes they can become overwhelming. One of the purposes of the book is to get you to understand how much we don't know about the Old Testament and how much more familiar we need to be with the Old Testament.

For Christianity is rooted in Judaism and to understand everything about Christ presented in the Old Testament is extremely important for us to understand. And so one of the purposes in giving you the book is to help you understand how it is we can know more and more about the coming Messiah and how He is on every page of Scripture and how you connect the dots in the Old Testament to the New Testament. And so I wondered this morning if you were to think in your mind and just think of the 25 different prophecies that were fulfilled in the man of promise, which one would you admire the most?

I thought about that this week and I thought to myself, if I had to admire one over all the others, I admire the fact that He is the swallower of death. I talked about that last week. For in fact, our Lord swallowed up death and there's no longer any sting in death. Death has no victory over us, that Christ is the victor over sin, death and Satan. And because He swallowed up death, that which always swallowed up man has now been swallowed up by the Messiah. We no longer have fear of death. That's the one I admire the most of the 25 that we have studied.

And then I thought, which one do I adore the most? Which one needs to be adored more than all the others? We all speak of the same person. But if I could choose one, I would choose the fact that He is my Savior. The very fact that Christ the Lord is the Savior of man. And everything about becoming the Messiah was all about the adoration of the Messiah, the worship of the Messiah. And if I could adore one over all the others, it would be the fact that Jesus Christ is my Savior. So if I had to admire one, it'd be the swallower of death.

If I had to adore one, it'd be the fact that Christ is my Savior. If I had to appreciate one over all the others, I'd appreciate the fact that He's my sin-bearer. That He is the spotless Lamb who bore my sin. Think about that. Throughout all eternity, we will be giving praise and thanks to God because He is the Lamb who has taken away our sin. He bore our sin in His sinless body so that we would be set free from that sin. So if I had to appreciate one over all the others, it'd be the fact that Christ is my sin-bearer.

If truly there was one that appealed to me more than all the others, it'd be today's. The Messiah is the satisfier of man. That's appealing because Christ alone is the only one who can satisfy man's deepest needs. That's why in Haggai 2.7, it's called the desire of the nations. That's why in Malachi 3.1, it's called the messenger in whom you delight. That's why in Jeremiah 31.25, the Lord God said, I will satisfy the weary one. I will fill the soul that languishes. Only Christ can do that. But that was rooted way back in the book of Genesis.

In Genesis 15, verse number 1, when God told Abraham, Abraham, I am your very great reward. Abraham, no matter what happens surrounding the land and the nation that I've made you a father over, know this, that the greatest thing you'll ever receive is me. I am, Abraham, your very great reward. The very fact that Christ is the satisfier of man's needs is rooted in the fact that he is our very great reward. So when you come to Genesis 25, in verse number 7, it says that when Abraham died, he died satisfied.

Why? Because his Messiah, his Redeemer, was the satisfier of his soul. He was his very great reward. If you were to think of the one that's the most authoritative, which would it be? Well, it'd be the fact that he's sovereign. He's son of David. He's son of God, right? He's a sovereign ruler of the nations. He's son of David that speaks to his royalty. He's son of God that speaks to his deity. And God the king rules over all. That would be the most authoritative promise of our God. If you had to think of the most angelic promise, which would it be?

It'd be the fact that he's a star. He's the son, S-U-N, of righteousness. That's the one you're going to read tomorrow, the son of righteousness. In other words, the very fact that everything about the Lord is that he is the bright morning star, that he is the glory, the brightness, the radiance of everything. He is the most angelic. If you were to think of the one that truly is, in my opinion, the most affectionate, it'd be the one I want to talk to you about this morning. It's that he is the shepherd of his people.

Now remember, these are not names of God. They're descriptive titles of God. They're the characteristics of God. They are the attributes of God. God has one name. He doesn't have names. He has one name, only one. It's always in the singular, 800 times in the Old Testament, 200 times in the New Testament. The name of the Lord is always in the singular, never in the plural. Why? Because he only has one name. But it's multifaceted. It's described in a myriad of ways. That's why Paul calls it the indescribable gift.

It cannot be described in one way. It's beyond human comprehension. And so our Lord is a shepherd. In fact, all throughout the Old Testament, there was this prediction about God sending his shepherd. So in John chapter 10, what does Christ say to his disciples? I am the good shepherd. Now just that phrase alone is monumental. You could spend weeks just taking that phrase apart. I am the good shepherd. That would speak volumes to his disciples. Outside the fact that they knew that God was going to send his shepherd, Christ defines himself as the good shepherd.

Why is that important? Well, if you go back to Luke chapter 18, you realize that the rich young ruler came to the Lord and said, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And the response of our Lord was, Why do you call me good? For there is none good but God alone. So if you're going to call me good, you must be calling me God. If you call me God, you must recognize the fact that I am God. And if you recognize the fact that I am God, then no matter what I say, you will do because I'm God.

Because only God is good. So when Christ says he is the good shepherd, he is declaring himself to be God because only God is good.

In fact, it says in Psalm 119.68, The Lord is good and doest good. The Bible says in Psalm 107, verse number one, Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good.

It says in Psalm 105, excuse me, Psalm 25, verse number eight, Good and upright is the Lord. Psalm 34, verse number eight, Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 52, verse number nine, I will wait on your name for it is good. And way back in the book of Exodus, chapter 33, when Moses asked to see God's glory, God told him, I will hide you in the cleft of the rock and I will let all my goodness pass before you. So the Lord describes his glory, which is who he is, his attributes as good. Because only the Lord God of Israel is good.

And so when the Lord says to his disciples in John's gospel, in the 10th chapter, verse number 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. He's not just any ordinary shepherd. He is the God who is shepherd. I am the good shepherd because only God himself is good. In fact, he says this, he says, I am the good shepherd, which in and of itself is a phenomenal statement because he uses the phrase, which is the translation of the four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God out of Exodus chapter three.

When Moses said, who should I say sent me? God said, tell him I am sent you. Well, the Greek translation of those four Hebrew consonants is I am. So Christ says, I am the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush.

I am good. I am God. And I am the good shepherd. I am the God shepherd because I am the one who has shepherded Israel all their lives. Now, if you're a disciple and you're sitting there listening to this, this conjures up all kinds of Old Testament connections for you. And it should for us as well. We should learn to be masters of the Old Testament. We want to become masters of the New Testament because of the new covenant, but we need to be masters of the entire Bible, not just the New Testament.

We need to understand the Old Testament because the Old Testament opens up to us the beauty of all that was prophesied and how it all was fulfilled in one person, the shepherd of Israel, the good shepherd. And so if you're here that day, if you were there that day and you hear Jesus say, I am the good shepherd, it would immediately draw them back to the very first time God is referred to as a shepherd in the Old Testament.

And we need to know where that is because it speaks volumes. And that's in Genesis chapter 48, verse number 15, where Jacob blesses Joseph. Listen to what he says. He says, The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day. The very first time God is referred to as a shepherd is by Jacob.

And Jacob says, God has led me, God has fed me, God has protected me, God has provided me to this day. Everything rooted in shepherdology stems from Genesis chapter 48, verse number 15. For it's here where Jacob identifies the Lord God of Israel as his own shepherd who fed him and led him all of his days. And he would go on to say in chapter 49, verse number 25, that the mighty God is the shepherd of Israel, is the stone of Israel. And then all throughout the Old Testament, it's all about how God would shepherd his flock.

For instance, it says in Psalm 77, verse number 20, You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Chapter 79, verse number 13 says, So we, your people, and the sheep of your pasture, we give thanks to you forever. To all generations, we will tell of your praise. Psalm 80, verse number 1, O give ear, shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you are enthroned above the cherubim. Shine forth. Psalm 95, verse number 7, For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

Just a few verses in the Old Testament would conjure up all kinds of images in the mind of the disciples when Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.

It would draw them all the way back to Jacob, their father. It would draw them all the way back to the patriarchs, who themselves were shepherds, by the way. And the great king of Israel, David, he too was a shepherd. And by the way, when Jesus shows up on the scene at his incarnation, the glory of the Lord would shine all around what? Who? Shepherds, right? They were the first to hear about the arrival of the Messiah.

Why wouldn't he go to kings? Why wouldn't he go to nobles? Why wouldn't he go to the media? No, he goes to shepherds. The lowliest of the low. The lowest job you could ever have. The most menial task. The most difficult task. The most smelly job possible was a shepherd. And that's who the glory of the Lord would shine around. Not the nobles, the kings and the queens, the princes and the princesses, but around the shepherds. And they would make haste to go and see this word, this reality that had been spoken to them.

Why would he do that? Because he is, was, and will forever be the shepherd of his people. That's just remarkable. Speaking of the lowliness of our Lord, the humility of our Lord in the incarnation, that he would appear to shepherds first.

That they might make that great announcement. They were earth's first evangelists, the shepherds. Because God himself is a shepherd. In fact, over in Isaiah chapter 40, in that great comfort chapter about comforting my people Israel, the Lord says these words. He says, Like a shepherd he will tend his flock. In his arm he will gather the lambs and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead the nursing ewes. So again, the disciples would hear Christ saying that I am the good shepherd, drawing them back to Isaiah's prophecy of the comforting of the Messiah who when he arrives, it says up earlier in verse number 5, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

And it was. It was revealed. It was revealed at his birth. And it was also, by the way, revealed at his baptism. When he was baptized, the Spirit of the Lord descended upon him with a great light. That light being not just the star, not just the S-U-N of righteousness, it was the glory of the Lord that was descending once again upon the Messiah of Israel at his baptism to prove once again that the glory of the Lord will rest upon him because he is the Messiah of Israel, the shepherd of Israel. You see, there are so many things that we don't connect, that we need to put together to understand the identity and ministry of the Messiah.

That's what makes the Bible such a remarkable book, the inspired word of God that's living and active and powerful than any sharper than any two-edged sword because it truly is God's word, such a powerful word. Well, all throughout the Old Testament, God had called his leaders to shepherd his people, and they failed. They did a horrible job. So when you come to the book of Ezekiel, 34th chapter, the Lord pronounces a curse upon his people Israel, about the shepherds of Israel. He says in chapter 34, verse number 2, Woe, shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves!

Should not the shepherds feed the flock? Verse 4, Those who are sickly, you have not strengthened. The diseased, you have not healed. The broken, you have not bound up. The scattered, you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost. But with force and with severity, you have dominated them. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.

So he says in verse number 10, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from them and make them sheaths from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver my flock from their mouth that they will not be food for them. So he says in verse 12, As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for my sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.

He says in verse 13, I will feed them. Verse 14 again, I will feed them in a good pasture. Verse 15, I will feed my flock and I will lead them to rest. Verse 16, I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick. Verse 23, I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them. He will feed them himself and be their shepherd. My servant David. David's been dead for 400 years. So who's his servant David? That's the Messiah. I will send my shepherd.

My shepherd is my servant. My servant is the son of David. I will shepherd my people. He will care for them. He will feed them. He will lead them. He will bind them. He will bring back the lost. He will take care of them. I will send my shepherd. Then chapter 37 of Ezekiel, the Lord says this, my servant David will be king over them and they will all have one shepherd and they will walk in my ordinances and keep my statutes and observe them. My servant David will be king. He will be my shepherd. He will protect them.

He will provide for them. He will take care of them. The most affectionate term for our Lord is that he's a shepherd who binds the brokenhearted, who heals the wounds of those who are hurting. He is the one who leads us and guides us when we so desperately need to be led. He's the one who can provide for us when no one else can. And he is the great protector of the sheep. That's who he is. And so all throughout the Old Testament everything pointed to a specific shepherd. In fact, over in the book of Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 13, a Waco sword, verse number 7, against my shepherd and against the man, not just any man, but a strong man, my associate or my equal.

In other words, the shepherd will be an equal to God. The shepherd will be a mighty man, not just a normal man, but an ordinary man, a supernatural man, who will be equal in nature to who God is. It says, strike the shepherd that the sheep may be scattered. Christ quoted that in Matthew 26 to talk about how he himself would be stricken and the sheep would be scattered. When the Magi rode into Jerusalem asking, where is he who was born King of the Jews? Herod quickly gathered his scribes together because he wanted to know if there was coming a king that would be born to Israel because he was the king.

He wanted no competition. He wanted no rivalry. So who's the king? Do you know of a king that's going to be born? And if so, where is he going to be born? The scribes knew. So what did they say? Oh yeah, we know. Bethlehem of Judea. And they quoted Matthew, or excuse me, Micah 5, verse number 2. And you Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. For out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel. They knew. The scribes knew. So the scribes knew.

The Pharisees knew. The Pharisees knew. The Sadducees knew. If the religious establishment knew, the people would know. And sure enough, in John 10, when our Lord is speaking to his disciples, they would know that the good shepherd is the God shepherd, is a servant of David, the king of Israel. And you know what Peter calls him? Peter calls him, in 1 Peter 2.25, the chief shepherd. And the rite of Hebrews calls him the great shepherd. So not only is he the good shepherd, he's the chief of all shepherds because he's the great shepherd.

So notice what it says. Five times, Christ, the good shepherd, will lay down his life for the sheep. This is the passion of the shepherd. He repeats it five times. Listen to what he says. John 10, verse 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Verse 14. I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. Think about that. Speak about affectionate term. Speak about the intimacy of the term. I know my sheep.

My sheep know me. In fact, my sheep know me as I know the Father, and the Father knows me. That's remarkable that there's this intimate relationship that the sheep have with the shepherd. That's why the psalmist said, The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23, verse number 1. He didn't say the Lord is a shepherd, although he is. The psalmist said, The Lord is my shepherd, because the psalmist knew, David knew, that the shepherd would lay down his life for the sheep. Christ says, in verse number 15, I lay down my life for the sheep.

That's number two. He says in verse number 17, For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, so that I may take it again. No one has taken it from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority. If I lay it down, I can take it up again. In other words, he says, I am passionate about my flock. I am passionate about my sheep. So much so, that I'm willing to lay down my life. I'm willing to give my life away. Talk about the affection that God has for his people. The affection of the shepherd for his flock.

In fact, he would say earlier that he was the door of the sheep. Right? I am the door. I am the gate. When a shepherd would take his sheep out to graze, sometimes they would have to travel far to find green grass where the sheep could eat. And they'd have to build up barriers, because the night would grow cold and they could not get back. So they'd have to build these barriers around the sheep. And then there'd be this opening in which the shepherd would lie down in, because he would be the doorway to the sheep.

No one could come in. No one could leave without the shepherd's approval. He was the protector of the sheep. He would watch over the sheep. That's what he does. This is the good shepherd. So the psalmist says these words, the Lord is my shepherd. The next phrase, I shall not want. How do you know the Lord is your shepherd? You have no wants. None. Why? Because he's the great provider. He's the great protector. He's the one who leads and guides. The psalmist says, I have no wants. Why? Because I'm being led by the great shepherd, the chief shepherd, the good shepherd, the God's shepherd.

He watches over me. He cares for me. He leads me beside quiet waters. Why does he do that? Because sheep are afraid of running water. So he leads them beside still waters. So the shepherd takes his staff and he organizes the rocks inside the running stream to make a barrier so that inside that barrier is quiet waters or still waters. While all the water around it is running by, there is quiet waters here. That allows the shepherd to lead his sheep to quiet waters because they're scared to death of running water.

Sheep have no way to protect themselves, no way to defend themselves. And so the shepherd has to protect them, provide for them, watch over them. And Christ says, that's who I am.

I'm the good shepherd. So the psalmist says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He gives me rest. He feeds me. He leads me beside quiet waters. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Not for my name, but for his name. He leads me in righteous paths for the glory of his name. And even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. Why? Because thou art with me. My shepherd is always there. He never leaves me.

He always is there to protect and watch over me. And that's why his rod and his staff comfort him. What was the rod? It was a two-foot billy club that the shepherd would use to ward off any kind of beast that would come to harm the flock. And, of course, he had the staff that he would use to knock away weeds or get his little flock or sheep that maybe had fallen to a crevice to wrap around them and bring them out. That's what God does. He's a protector of his people. So the psalmist says, this is my shepherd.

I wonder if you know that shepherd. The great I Am. The good God shepherd. It's interesting that in the book of Revelation these words are spoken. In Revelation chapter 7, verse number 16, about those who have come out of the great tribulation and are in glory. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to springs of the water of life and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

He will always be the shepherd. He will always be leading and guiding and protecting and watching over his own. That's who he is. So when he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the beginning and the end, from Genesis chapter 48, verse number 15, to Revelation chapter 7, verse number 17, the scriptures scream one thing, God is your shepherd. The question is, have you recognized that? Have you come to understand that? You see, there are so many descriptive ways to understand our God because he's so clearly portrayed all throughout the scriptures.

It's unfortunate that for the most part we don't take time to study it. We study the scriptures for various reasons, maybe to get some more knowledge, maybe for help in my marital situation or relationships, whatever the case may be, but the Bible was never intended for that. The Bible was intended for one reason and one reason only, that you might know Christ. That's it. It's all about the Christ. If you go to the Bible to look for anything else other than the Christ, you'll never get anything out of it.

You just won't. But if you go to the Bible to look for Christ, you'll get more than everything out of it. You'll get more than you could ever hope for out of it because it will unveil to you Christ who just is not the swallower of death, not just the satisfier of man, not just the son of David or son of God or your sin bearer or the scorned one or the spotless lamb or the scapegoat or the seed. No, he's a shepherd. He's a son of righteousness. He is Shiloh. He is more than all of that because he's everything.

He is that indescribable gift. And I wonder if you received the gift this Christmas. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity you give us to spend time in your word. It's a brief time, but our prayer, Father, is that it would be a beloved time because, Lord, you are the one we love. And we've gathered together on this day just to get one more glimpse of the man of promise, how he was foretold and fulfilled in one person and one person only, Jesus Christ, our Lord. For that, we are grateful.

In Jesus' name, amen.