The Historical Significance and Humility of Christ's Birth
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The world moved and instigated by the devil, the great antagonist and opponent of God, is doing its utmost to rob us of the real meaning and significance of what happened nearly 2,000 years ago. The world would evaporate all this into some vague general spirit of fellowship and friendship and good cheer. [00:01:09]
The only way to avoid all that and to counteract it is to keep on coming back to the records, to the New Testament itself. For here, thank God, we are not only given the teaching, but we are given the facts accompanying them, and we are not only given the facts, we are given an explanation of the meaning and the significance and the purpose of the facts. [00:01:54]
The Christian message, the Christian faith, the whole of the Christian Gospel is based solidly upon events, upon facts that have taken place in the realm of history. Caesar Augustus, he was the emperor at this particular time. Well, he belongs to history as Julius Caesar, one of his predecessors, belongs to history. [00:04:10]
This is primarily an announcement, a proclamation of events, something that has actually and has concretely taken place in this world. It's a hard fact. How easy, I say, it is to lose all that and even to turn what happened in Bethlehem so long ago into a sort of fairy tale. [00:05:38]
God controls history. Now, where do we see that in this record? Well, we see it here. You read this statement: it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. [00:09:15]
God put it into his mind because he had decided and determined before the foundation of the world that it was at this particular moment that his son was going to come into the world to redeem mankind. Not only that, he had already given intimation nearly eight centuries before through the prophet Micah. [00:12:11]
The world with all its cleverness and all its opposite wisdom is never aware of what is really significant. Just think, cast your minds back to the mentality of the crowd in Bethlehem on that occasion. They were there, they'd come from everywhere, they'd all have to go back there who came out of the house and lineage of David. [00:20:17]
The world didn't know that the most momentous thing that had ever happened in the world was taking place amongst them, quite unaware of it. Nobody was saying a word about it. The biggest thing, the most glorious, the most wonderful thing, the most momentous thing, I say, that has ever happened in the whole course of history was taking place there. [00:22:57]
The only thing that matters in this world this morning is the thing that you and I have met together to celebrate. All the talk of the world will come to nothing. It's been talking like this throughout the centuries, but the world is worse than ever. But still, it'll go on doing it, and it won't listen to this. [00:24:21]
The humility, look at the loneliness. He who had been in the eternal bosom from all eternity, sharing the glory of the Father, who had ever been in the form of God, God the Son, coming into a stable, born onto the straw, placed in a manger. Is there anything more glorious, more moving, more wonderful than this? [00:29:09]
He came to save men, and how can he do it? There's only one way: he must become like us. He must take our nature upon him. He must enter into our condition. He doesn't do it by a fiat from heaven. He doesn't do it by a great display of eternal glory and power. [00:31:43]
There is the love of God incarnate. There is the grace, the mercy, the compassion. It's all there. It is because God's name is love that he did this, and his son humbled himself and came so low that we sinful, selfish, vile creatures might be forgiven, might be reconciled to God. [00:33:17]
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The only way to avoid all that and to counteract it is to keep on coming back to the records, to the New Testament itself. For here, thank God, we are not only given the teaching, but we are given the facts accompanying them, and we are not only given the facts, we are given an explanation of the meaning and the significance and the purpose of the facts. [00:01:54]
The Christian message, the Christian faith, the whole of the Christian Gospel is based solidly upon events, upon facts that have taken place in the realm of history. Caesar Augustus, he was the emperor at this particular time. Well, he belongs to history as Julius Caesar, one of his predecessors, belongs to history. [00:04:10]
This is primarily an announcement, a proclamation of events, something that has actually and has concretely taken place in this world. It's a hard fact. How easy, I say, it is to lose all that and even to turn what happened in Bethlehem so long ago into a sort of fairy tale. [00:05:38]
God controls history. Now, where do we see that in this record? Well, we see it here. You read this statement: it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. [00:09:15]
God put it into his mind because he had decided and determined before the foundation of the world that it was at this particular moment that his son was going to come into the world to redeem mankind. Not only that, he had already given intimation nearly eight centuries before through the prophet Micah. [00:12:11]
The world with all its cleverness and all its opposite wisdom is never aware of what is really significant. Just think, cast your minds back to the mentality of the crowd in Bethlehem on that occasion. They were there, they'd come from everywhere, they'd all have to go back there who came out of the house and lineage of David. [00:20:17]
The world didn't know that the most momentous thing that had ever happened in the world was taking place amongst them, quite unaware of it. Nobody was saying a word about it. The biggest thing, the most glorious, the most wonderful thing, the most momentous thing, I say, that has ever happened in the whole course of history was taking place there. [00:22:57]
The only thing that matters in this world this morning is the thing that you and I have met together to celebrate. All the talk of the world will come to nothing. It's been talking like this throughout the centuries, but the world is worse than ever. But still, it'll go on doing it, and it won't listen to this. [00:24:21]
The humility, look at the loneliness. He who had been in the eternal bosom from all eternity, sharing the glory of the Father, who had ever been in the form of God, God the Son, coming into a stable, born onto the straw, placed in a manger. Is there anything more glorious, more moving, more wonderful than this? [00:29:09]
He came to save men, and how can he do it? There's only one way: he must become like us. He must take our nature upon him. He must enter into our condition. He doesn't do it by a fiat from heaven. He doesn't do it by a great display of eternal glory and power. [00:31:43]
There is the love of God incarnate. There is the grace, the mercy, the compassion. It's all there. It is because God's name is love that he did this, and his son humbled himself and came so low that we sinful, selfish, vile creatures might be forgiven, might be reconciled to God. [00:33:17]
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