The Manger: A Manifestation of Majesty and Mystery, Part 5

To celebrate Christ on the Lord's Day is what Christianity really is all about. I was saddened to hear that there were many churches that decided not to meet today, not just in the state of California, but all around the country, because it was Christmas Sunday And I was asked what I thought about churches closing on Christmas Sunday And I asked and I said, well, are they really a church if they're closed on Christmas Sunday? They really can't be a church if that's the case But there are so many churches around our country that are closed on this day

They want you to spend time with your family and your friends It's still the Lord's Day. I mean, there's only 52 of them in a year except for next year, but there's only 52 of them, right? But so many churches closed on today so that people could spend time with their families. I just don't understand that To gather together with the people of God and to worship your king is what Christianity is all about, especially on Christmas Sunday, the day we celebrate the birth of the king

But it got me thinking about why it is so many people just really don't care that much about Christmas or celebrating Christ in the house of God with the people of God or just the fact that so many people miss Christmas And I'm beginning to think about the Christmas story and how many people missed the birth of the Christ when he came And not much has changed in 2,000 years When you think about it, people missed the birth of Christ simply because of a variety of reasons One is because of lethargy or apathy They're just indifferent to his messiahship That was Israel at large

They were kind of ho-hum about becoming the messiah After all, it had been 400 silent years from the time that God last spoke in the Old Testament through an angel or him speaking to another individual It had been dark years And over time, people became apathetic and lethargic to the coming of the king And so when he finally arrived, they missed him And that's the way it is today too There are many people that are apathetic about the messiah And lethargy seems to have crept into many people's homes and lives But there's another reason, and that's simply because of idolatry That was Rome

How is it Rome missed the arrival of the messiah? Because they were idol worshippers They worshipped another god Which leads me to this Not only is there apathy and lethargy and idolatry, but there's also what we call jealousy That was Herod Herod was jealous that there was another king that was born So jealous he killed all the children two years and younger just so that he had no rival to his kingship He was jealous because he didn't want to give up that which he had to serve another king

And there are people today who don't want to give up their own lives to serve the true king, the king of glory So whether it's apathy or whether it's lethargy or whether it's idolatry or whether it's jealousy, there's also familiarity People are so familiar with the story Yeah, it's okay We can miss church this Christmas Sunday It's okay. I mean, after all, we'll be there next week, unless it's, of course, New Year's Day, and then maybe the following week We know the story anyway We've read it so many times And people miss Christmas because of familiarity

That was the way it was with the family of the Christ His brothers were so familiar with him that they weren't even giving their life to him until after the resurrection because it was just another brother to them And so many times we can become so familiar with the story that we miss the great implications of all that the story means Another reason is simply because of activity There's something more important to us than going to church There was something more important than going to the manger There was something more important than worshiping the Messiah

There was always something that was going on that took precedence over church, that takes precedence over the worship of the king, and many people fall into that category And yet we begin to realize that for most people, they're just not interested Iniquity, that's another one, that keeps us from the worship of the Messiah, coming to see him, scribes and Pharisees, as they were so into their own system

We'll call that religiosity because people get so religious that they go to church but it means nothing to them because it's all ritualistic, right? And so this religiosity has taken precedence in their lives and that they miss the meaning of Christmas because they're steeped in a religion, scribes and Pharisees were that way They were steeped in their Judaistic system that when the Messiah finally came, they missed him So sad But not much has changed in 2,000 years What was true then is still true today

Yet for a brief moment, on this Christmas Sunday, this Lord's Day in which we celebrate the birth of our king, we want to once again take you back to Bethlehem We'll take you back to the grotto, which is a cave Take you back to the feeding trough Take you back to the manger and help you see the majestic nature of that manger, the mystery behind that manger, all that's there For truly it's a manifestation of God's majesty and God's mystery

We tried to explain it to you over the last several times that we've been together to help you understand it's majestic because it's all centered around the power of God's providence It's mysterious because it's centered around the precision of God's prophecy It's the most fascinating story ever written It's truly the story of the Christ It's the most incredible thing ever to be able to understand the meaning of Christmas and all that it does for people like you and me

And to be able to teach your children the effects of the Christ child's coming and what it means for them is just an incredible opportunity that God has given to us And so as we've taken you back, we've shown you that the manger is a place of mercy and a place of ministry It's a place of authority It's a place of adversity It's a place of nobility It's a place of necessity And if you were with us last night, you can repeat after me It was a place of glory Some of you were here And generosity The manger is a place of glory and generosity Where the glory of the Lord would shine all around

The brightness of God's character was there Everything about the star that was promised Everything about the sun of righteousness that was promised Everything about the light of the world that was promised Everything about taking people out of darkness that was promised had come God had come down to man That's the glory of God and the generosity of God all wrapped up into one

That our God in His glorious nature, as bright as He is, as unblemished as He is, as unapproachable as He is because He is the light of the world, as unending as He is, He unleashed His presence among men so that no longer would He be avoided, no longer would He be rejected, but He'd be among men to be received and accepted And when God unleashed His glory upon the earth, in that manger, encased in flesh was all that glory, all that brightness, all of that light And Christ would say that He was and is the light of the world And in Him who is light is life He is the light of all men

He is the life of all men Without Him, you sit in darkness Without Him, you do not know the way to glory And so the manger is a place of glory and generosity, right? Think about it It's an indescribable gift for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life That's the eternal possession, having everlasting life The eternal Lord offers eternal life to those who are eternally lost so they could have His life How generous is that? And that is the generosity of our God

He is all glorious and we are to give Him glory The angels did Glory to God in the highest, they said, in peace on earth toward men with whom He is pleased They glorified their God How do you know that when you understand the Christian story, you understand the glory and generosity of the gift? How do you know that? Well, you give glory to God You put Him on display The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3 verse number 18 that we all with unveiled face.. Remember when Moses came down off of the mountain, he had to veil his face because he had conversed with the living God His face was all aglow

And they put a veil over his face But people knew that he had been with the living God because there was a reflection of that glory on the face of Moses So in that context, in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18, Paul says, we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the Scriptures, the glory of the Lord are being transformed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, even as by the Spirit of God In other words, when we open the Word of God, the light of life, and we begin to look at the light of the Word, that light shines upon us and we become brighter and brighter and brighter

We become able to glow with the presence of the living God because He is within us And we are being changed from one level of brightness to the next level of brightness to the next level of brightness And so when we give glory to God, we are reflecting the righteous radiance of our Redeemer That's what it means to give glory to God You are reflecting His brilliance You are shining forth His life And we give glory to God

And when you recognize that in that manger was this Christ child, and encased in flesh was the beauty and glory that would shine forth for all men to see, for we beheld His glory The glories of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth That's wrapped up in the generosity of our God to come down to man But the manger is also a place of excellency and inquiry Excellency The Bible says in Psalm 8, verse number 1, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth How excellent is Your name in all the earth

The Bible says in Hebrews 1, verse number 4, that God has, that Christ has a name that is more excellent than all the angels In Psalm 150, verse number 2, the Bible tells us that God is excellent in His greatness And the Bible tells us in 1 Peter 2, verse 9, that we who are a chosen generation, we who are a royal priesthood, are to declare the excellencies of Him who's called us out of darkness into His marvelous light

What are the excellencies of God? What is it about the manger that is so excellent? Why is there excellency? It's simply because excellency describes the virtues and the qualities of the Christ child Everything that makes Him excellent is wrapped up in His name How excellent is Your name, Lord, in all the earth We know that there's pardon in the name, right? We know that because His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins We know there's peace in His name because He's called the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9, verse number 6

We know there's power in His name because Isaiah 9, verse number 6 tells us that He is the mighty God, the Almighty One We know there's providence in His name because through that name, we realize in Isaiah 9, 6 again, He is called the Everlasting Father or the Originator of Eternity He is the one who creates and maps all things out That's who He is There's providence in His name There's power in His name There's peace in His name There's pardon in His name Everything about who God is is wrapped up in His name for His name shall be called Jesus

There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved It's the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord We know that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Why? Because He is the King of all kings He is the Lord of all lords There is excellency in His name So when you go to the manger, what's wrapped in swelling clothes are the virtues and the characters that describe to us the beauty and the splendor of the child There's excellency in His name

And so when you look at the manger, you realize it's a place of excellency But it's also a place of inquiry Now I know some of you are going to say, well, that begins with an I Well, if you're in England, it begins with an E Because I have a son-in-law from England, I thought that the best way to make him, you know, acceptable in our church was to use the word that he would use So inquiry beginning with an E In other words, there is this investigation There is this searching out there The manger is a place of inquiry. A place where you want to know and understand

Listen, when the shepherds came to the manger, remember what it says in Luke's gospel It says these words When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing or this reality or this word that has happened which the Lord has made known to us So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph and the baby as he lay in the manger And when they had seen this, they made known the statement which they had been told them about the child

Notice the simplicity and the singularity of the message It was all about the child It was all about the Savior who is Christ the Lord So when they relayed the message, they declared the excellencies of the Messiah They declared with simplicity They made known the statement What was the statement? For unto you this day in the city of David there has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord Listen, when you share the gospel, it's a very simple message It's a very singular message centered around one person, the Christ It's not about you It's not about your testimony

It's all about the Christ and His coming to earth to save us from our sin And when the shepherds declared the excellencies of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light, they made it a very simple but a very singular message to Mary And when they did, what happened? The Bible tells us that Mary would ponder all these things in her heart She would treasure up all these things in her heart Mary was a woman of great inquiry She would want to study She would want to investigate Can you imagine being her age? Thirteen, maybe fourteen Very young lady

But she would search the Scriptures once she'd been told that she'd give birth to the Christ child And she would become a student of the Scriptures to understand more and more about the meaning of the Messiah And so when the shepherds would come to her and explain to them that word that they had received, she would begin to ponder all these things in her heart, treasure them in her heart, seek after them in her heart So important Remember Anna in Luke 2? The Bible tells us these words There was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Thanuel, of the tribe of Asher

She was advanced in years and lived with her husband seven years after her marriage And then as a widow to the age of 84 Now you've got to add that up, right? So if she's betrothed at the age of 13, let's say, because that was the average age in which a young woman during the time of Christ was betrothed At 13, she was married for seven years She became a widow She's now 84, or for 84 years she was a widow That means she's 104 years of age in Luke 2 Now if I lost you on that, get the tape, rewind it, you'll get it

But it says, She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers At that very moment, she came up and began to give thanks to God The moment that Simeon had taken the Christ child in his hands and gave praise and honor to God because God had told Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Messiah So Simeon lived every day in anticipation of the coming Messiah God says, You will not die until you see the Christ So every day in the temple he was anticipating that this would be the day This would be the day He was an old man

Took the Christ child in his arms and began to praise God It was at that moment, that honor, the prophetess, she came and continued to speak of him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem In other words, she's 104 years of age She's been a widow for 84 years Okay Had to be married for 7 years Hadn't been betrothed to 13 More than likely So give or take a few years here and there Maybe she's 101 Maybe she's 106 Who's going to argue with that, right? But the fact of the matter is, she was one who was looking for the redemption of Jerusalem

It says that Simeon was longing for the consolation of Israel They were both doing the same thing There was this searching There was this anticipation There was this desire And Anna, she was a prophetess, so she would speak for God The Bible tells us that she served her God, but she searched for her God That's what made her a unique woman Not her searching Okay Not her serving, but her searching for God She would search for Him day in and day out, anticipating the arrival of the Messiah And she would speak to all those other ones who happened to be looking for the redemption of Jerusalem

You see, the manger is a place of inquiry When you begin to look at the people who are mesmerized by the arrival of the Messiah, it should cause us to search more and more, to investigate more and more about who this Christ is, why He came, why He died, how He died, everything surrounding Him You know, I was sitting this morning in my office. I lay down in my office an awful lot, and I opened my Bible, and under my Bible, under the tree, I have a tree in my office, of course I do, but I have a tree in my office at home as well And I sit there by the light of the tree and read the story

And I reread it, and I reread it over and over and over again, because every word matters Every phrase matters Every verse matters And everything about the coming Messiah is mind-blowing to me And to be able to understand how God orchestrates everything to come together causes me to search more and more as I study about the Christ child So the manger, it's a place of mercy It's a place of ministry It's a place of authority and diversity, nobility and necessity, glory and generosity, excellency and inquiry The manger is also a place of royalty, of royalty

You must understand the nature of the child He's the king of all kings It's a place of royalty, and in a moment I'll tell you it's a place of responsibility But the manger is about the royalty of the Christ child You know, he's called the son of man That's what Daniel called him It's a messianic title So when he came, he fulfilled that prophecy He's also called the son of David Okay, Psalm 89 He fulfilled Davidic promise because he was coming as the king But he's also the son of God, right? He fulfills divine promise

It's the child that was given, or the child that was born, it was the son that was given because he is the son of God So this son of man, this son of David, this son of God is the king of the universe And I began thinking about that this morning And think about everything about the arrival of the Messiah centers around his royalty And I think so many times we forget that But everything in the Old Testament was about the anticipation of his royalty The king was coming He's called the king of glory in Psalm 24 So the Old Testament was about the coming of the Messiah

Remember the Old Testament that the Messiah was gonna be a prophet, a priest, and a king Because those were the three offices that were anointed And he would be a prophet out of the prophecy of Deuteronomy chapter 18 He'd be a priest from the prophecy of Psalm 110 But he'd be a king based on the promise given to David and the prophecy surrounding the fact that the star would hold the scepter and Shiloh, the one to whom it belongs, the scepter, he'd be a king So from the very beginning, the book of Genesis, it was all about the coming of royalty, the coming of the king

See? That's why we bow in submission to the king Because that's who he is And so everything in the Old Testament was about the anticipation of the king Because there was a revelation about the king There was prophecy surrounding the king So with that revelation came all of this anticipation until one day there was this illumination about the king When the glory of the Lord would shine all around, and the shepherds would realize that the Savior is the Messiah who is the Lord of all lords and king of all kings

And from that illumination to his royalty came the recognition of his royalty by the Magi They were kingmakers They came in search of a king Where is he who was born king of the Jews? Isn't it interesting that nobody followed them to find the king? Nobody was that interested in another king But the Magi, they came And they came from a far distance So the Christ child was around two years of age when they finally got there Where is he who was born king of the Jews? Because they recognized that the star had come The star was Messiah Messiah was king

That's why they gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh Gold symbolizes royalty Frankincense symbolizes deity Myrrh symbolizes his humanity So even these kingmakers, these first Gentile converts to Christianity were people who recognized him as God, as king, who would die Because in his humanity he'd be wrapped in myrrh So even they knew that So there was this recognition of his kingship based on the revelation and anticipation and the illumination of his kingship And then there was what we'll call a documentation of his kingship The genealogies Matthew 1, Luke chapter 3

It's very clearly documented that the Messiah is the king He's the descendant of David and will sit on the throne of David So there's a documentation in Scripture about the king and his royalty is coming again But yet, after that, came a presentation of the king John the Baptist came preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand Why? Because the king has arrived After he was preaching, came Christ preaching Same message The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God is at hand Why? Because the king has come to present the kingdom So there was a presentation of his royalty

But soon after the presentation of his royalty was a rejection of his royalty Right? They rejected him as king Pilate brought him out, having beaten him and said, Behold, your king! But they were determined not to have that king rule over them And so from the presentation of the king to the rejection of the king came the crucifixion of the king In fact, even the inscription above the cross, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews Even the thief on the cross recognized his kingship Remember me when you come into your kingdom He recognized that Jesus was the king at the crucifixion of the king

After the crucifixion of the king came the resurrection of the king He was raised from the dead From the resurrection of the king there was the ascension, of course, of the king and the coronation of the king in glory But there's going to come a retribution by the king when he comes again And from that retribution there will become a celebration of the king for all eternity But our Lord is king Everything about the Scriptures says about His kingship

But yet He's not the king that we necessarily recognize. I could tell you that He is the light king because He lights the way He is. I could tell you that He's a liberating king because He's that, He sets us free Only kings can set us free He's the lion king based on Genesis 49 and Revelation chapter 5 He's also the life-giving king But the most important title is that He is the lamb king And we miss that He is the lamb king That's why we don't understand His kingship He's not just an ordinary king He is the lamb king And the book of Revelation spells that out for us

Because in Revelation 5 John sees the lamb on the throne That's a lamb king He's the lamb on the throne In Revelation chapter 12, He sees the lamb defeat Satan That's the lamb king In Revelation 17, He sees the lamb fight the kings of the earth and defeat them because He is the king of kings and Lord of lords He is the lamb king In Revelation 19, He weds, the king weds His church In Revelation 21, the lamb king lights the eternal city In Revelation 22, the lamb king sits on the throne and from that throne flow rivers of living water See, the book of Revelation describes Him as a lamb king

And so that's why Israel didn't understand the kingship of the Messiah when He came That's why they rejected Him Even when He came into Jerusalem on that Palm Monday when they sing praises to His name Blessed is He who comes Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord They were praising Him as their king They wanted Him to set up His kingdom then And yet, a few days later, they would reject Him as their king But on that day, they praised Him as their king They quoted a messianic psalm, Psalm 118, that deal with the expectant coming king But the manger, a place of royalty

When you go to the manger, the king is lying there Mary gave birth to the king He is our king Have you recognized Him as that? Because the manger is not just a place of royalty, it's a place of responsibility It's a place of responsibility In other words, you can't just leave the manger unchanged You can't leave the manger the way you approached the manger Do you think the shepherds did? Don't think so They went away praising God, glorifying His name Mary was so overwhelmed with what the shepherds said She treasured all things in her heart She would never be the same again Nor Joseph

Everything was about the arrival of the king And the responsibility that you and I have, having understood more and more about this feeding trough, this place where the Christ child would lay, wrapped in swaddling clothes, is all about our responsibility to submit to Him and bow to His authority He is the king And notice that the shepherds, they went in haste to see this word, this reality that was spoken to them They didn't hesitate Because, you know, when you hear about the Christ and you're called by God, there is no hesitation You make the decision, you go, and you bow before Him

The Magi, they went in haste They just had a long way to go from Persia, that's all But they went as fast as they could, looking for the king When they saw Him, they bowed in submission to Him Because, you see, when you recognize the excellency of the manger, the one who lies in the manger, all the virtues and qualities of this child, you must bow before Him and humbly submit yourself to Him When Christ said to James and John, He said, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men The Bible says they immediately left their nets and followed Him No hesitation They dropped everything

They dropped their future They left their family And they followed the Messiah When Matthew the tax collector was at his table and the Messiah walks by, He said to Matthew, You, follow Me And Matthew immediately gets up, leaves his tax collecting table, and follows the Messiah No hesitation So whether you have to leave your family, leave your friends, leave your future, or in Matthew's case, leave your financial stability, you follow Him when He calls, no matter what Because none of that matters when it comes to the king When the king beckons you, you come When the king speaks, you say yes

You bow in submission to the king And that's the responsibility that every one of us has This Christmas day, this Christmas Sunday, this opportunity for us to reflect back once again on the majesty and mystery of the manger Our responsibility is to bow before Him and to follow Him We might serve Him explicitly What better way to celebrate Christmas than to say, Lord, I bow in submission to You as my king Whatever You ask me to do, I will do Wherever You ask me to go, I will go Whatever You ask me to say, I will say Because I recognize the manger is a place of glory And I want to give You glory

It's a place of generosity You've been so kind to give me that indescribable gift What I realize is it's a place of mercy Mercy is not something that I achieve, it's something that I receive It's a place of ministry, because You came to seek and to save that which is lost. A place of absolute authority, because You are the Lord of all lords It's a place of nobility It's a place of absolute necessity. I need Christ as my Savior My prayer for you and your family is that today would be the day of your salvation For today is that day Don't hesitate Don't wait

If one thing is true about the Christmas story, it's this, that those who recognize the Messiah never stopped, never hesitated They immediately followed Him and served Him May that be you this Christmas season Let's pray together Father, we thank You for today We thank You, Lord, that we can gather together and focus once again on Your majesty We are so grateful, Lord, for all that You have done

And we just ask on this day that if there'd be someone among us who has yet to bow in submission to Your authority that this would be the day they'd come to recognize You as their King and Lord, Savior, and Messiah And that for those of us who have, that, Lord, we would rekindle anew our relationship with You and live in humble submission to Your authority all the days of our lives until You come again, as You most surely will In Jesus' name, amen.