The birth of Jesus! In September ?????
Matthew 1:18-25
Matthew 1:18–25 (ESV)
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ
took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
19And her husband Joseph, being
a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
20But as he considered these
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21She will bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22All this took place to
fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23“Behold, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means,
God with us).
24When Joseph woke from sleep,
he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife,
25but knew her not until she
had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
I know what you’re thinking! I hear about this every Christmas!
“and to us a child is born”! but have you ever really looked at the story of
the birth of Jesus and ask yourself what else is there in this? How can I take
this and get a better understanding of who God, the father, is? Or how can I
get some practical use out of this? Well today is your lucky day! Because we
are going to do just that!
First God the
Father!
Here we see God
does exists!
22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear
a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Prophesy fulfilled
Isaiah 7:14 (ESV)
14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
6For to us a child is born, to us a son is
given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus comes in to
this world Just like God told us he would!
Isaiah 53:2 (ESV)
2For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should
look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
Proof God is real!
·
He brought Jesus in to this world just like he
said he would
·
He would not be special
·
He would not standout
·
We could all relate to him
·
And this is just how Jesus came into this world
And he came to fulfill
Gods purpose for him
21She will bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
·
God
sent Jesus to fulfill all of the scripture in the old Testament that a savior
was coming
·
One
would give us all a pathway to heaven
·
To
mend a broken relationship with the world and its heavenly father
The old testament is all about Jesus Coming
as savior!
·
Christ is the Seed of woman and in Genesis 3:15
we are told He will one day crush Satan.
·
In Exodus we find the story of the Passover
Lamb, and Christ is the sacrificial Lamb given for us.
·
In Leviticus we read of the high priests making
sacrifices for the people, and Christ has become our High Priest, making the
perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins.
·
In Deuteronomy Moses prophesied of a prophet who
would come that would be greater than Himself. Jesus is that Great Prophet.
·
In the book of Joshua, Joshua met the Captain of
the Lord's host. That man is Jesus Christ.
·
The judges were leaders who delivered God's
people, each of them typifying the Lord Jesus.
·
Boaz, the kinsman who redeemed Ruth's
inheritance, is a picture of Christ.
·
David, the anointed one, pictures Jesus and
Jesus is described as being the Son of David.
·
In 2 Samuel when the king is being enthroned,
the entire scene is descriptive of the Lord Jesus.
·
The books of Kings speak of the glory of God
filling the temple and the Chronicles describe the glorious coming king, both
referring to Jesus, the King of Kings.
·
Ezra depicts Jesus as the Lord of our fathers.
·
Job says clearly that the Redeemer is coming!
·
Esther offers a picture of Christ interceding
for His people.
·
Christ appears time after time in the Psalms,
including when David describes Him as “the Shepherd.”
·
Isaiah details His glorious birth.
·
Jeremiah reveals that He will be acquainted with
sorrows.
·
Joel describes Him as the Hope of His people.
·
Amos tells us that Jesus is the judge of all
nations.
·
Obadiah warns of the coming eternal kingdom.
·
Jonah offers a picture of Jesus being dead for
three days, then coming back to life to preach repentance.
·
Zephaniah says that He will be the king over
Israel.
·
Zachariah is the prophet who speaks of Jesus
riding on a colt.
·
Malachi is the one who calls Him the Son of
Righteousness.
Can you see it? The
entire Old Testament points toward Jesus as Savior, and if you miss that,
you've missed the entire point of the Scriptures. Jesus is the Messiah and the
fulfillment of prophecy.
Now some practical
application!
A woman about to be married
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ
took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
Betrothed!
·
Arranged to be married
·
Engaged
·
Spoken for
Came together
·
Slept together
·
Had sex
·
She is still a virgin
With Child
·
Not a good thing in those days
·
As a matter of fact
·
It was a death sentences
Deuteronomy 22:23–24 (ESV)
23“If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man
meets her in the city and lies with her,
24then you shall bring them both out to the
gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young
woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man
because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your
midst.
·
Get the picture
·
Hard to prove divine inception!
She was scared as to what would happen, but she trusted
God!
Joseph was hurt!
19And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved
to divorce her quietly.
·
He had options
·
He could have exposed her
·
He could have taken out his anger on her
·
And he would have been right in the eyes of the
law
·
But he wasn’t going to
·
He was going to do it quite and not bring shame
or death to her
For us:
·
We have all been there and will be there again
·
We have the right to bring shame, wrath, revenge
on others
·
But should we
·
Is that the just thing to do?
·
Is it what Jesus would do?
·
We can all learn from Joseph
·
The man we hear so little about
·
Jesus earthly Dad
·
His decision made a huge impact on the world
·
Just like you
o Your
decision
o How
you handle conflict
o How
you handle being hurt
o How
you handle people who do you wrong
o Can
make a huge impact in their life as well!
Good things happen
to those who follow Gods plan!
20But as he considered these
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
24When Joseph woke from sleep,
he did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him: he took his wife,
25but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his
name Jesus.
God spoke to
Joseph in a dream, through an angel and God speaks to you
God speaks to you
·
Through others
·
Through prayer
·
Through his word
·
We just have to follow
You can follow too
·
Just like Joseph
·
Listen for God in everything
·
Gods comes to us in conflict
·
In hurt
·
In bad circumstances
·
We just have to follow
Joseph is a great
example for us all
·
He was an ordinary guy with and ordinary job
·
He listened during a very hurtful and painful
time
·
He followed even if it meant he had to sacrifice
Sound familiar?
·
Anyone in this room could be Joseph
·
And we all can do extraordinary things others
life
·
If we
just
·
listen
·
and follow Gods plan for our lives!
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