ANGELS OF CHRISTMAS1

We find there angels, seraphim, cherubim, a devil, demons, an invisible God, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the mighty Holy Spirit—all unseen to the naked eye.

When we open its pages we discover these same unseen spiritual forces influencing nations, nature, events, people, governments, and the future of our world.

And as to the birth of Christ Jesus, we observe supernatural agents everywhere visiting the key players of the first Christmas drama…

The birth of Christ is particularly marked by powerful visitations from angels.

There are at least three of these angelic visitations I want to focus on in the next few weeks.

First, we will look at an angelic proclamation—angels announcing the arrival of Christ Jesus via a virgin.

Then we will look at an angelic celebration—angels rejoicing over his birth.

And finally an angelic revelation—the involvement of angels in revealing Satan’s plans to destroy the baby Jesus.

Now today let’s look at the incredible PROCLAMATION OF THE ANGELS as they announce to Mary that the long awaited Messiah would be born of her. First, Mary was told:

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”—Luke 1:35

An angel later testified to Joseph in a dream the fulfillment of this proclamation when he was understandably devastated by her pregnancy:

“That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.”—Matt. 1:20

And the Bible confirms, “…she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.”—Matt. 1:1

This proclamation of a virgin birth immediately places the birth of Christ on supernatural ground.

And because it makes a supernatural claim, the Virgin Birth divides believers from skeptics.

Peter Larson wrote: The life of Jesus is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin's womb and an empty tomb. Jesus entered our world through a door marked, "No Entrance" and left through a door marked "No Exit."

Responding to what he might ask Jesus if he had the chance, talk show host Larry King said:

“I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin born, because the answer to that question would define history.”

Many say, “Virgin born? Impossible! Absurd! A Myth! A Children’s Bedtime Story!

As happens every Christmas season, the attacks on the Virgin birth are falling.

A new advertisement displayed on buses and billboards across America by the organization called American Atheists reads:

"YOU KNOW IT'S A MYTH. THIS SEASON, CELEBRATE REASON!"

Evangelist Ray Comfort suggests another billboard,

"Atheistic evolution: You KNOW it's a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!"

Okay, let’s do what the atheists advise. Let’s be reasonable.

Even God Himself invites our sinful world to look at His claims through the lens of reason:

“Come now,” says God in Isaiah, “and let us reason together."

If there is no God, no world of the supernatural, nothing beyond the reach of our senses, then yes, a Virgin birth would be preposterous.

But if there is a Creator God, and the unseen world described in the Bible really exists, then it is totally reasonable, logical, and sensible that a Virgin could conceive by supernatural means.

For me…

It is abundantly evident that the world was designed on purpose, rather than having evolved by time and chance.

Well known atheist Richard Dawkins has stated in one of his books,

“It is absolutely safe to say that, if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid, insane, or wicked.”

Well, Richard, I know countless people who are neither ignorant, stupid, insane, nor wicked and don’t believe in evolution!

Charles Darwin himself did not believe that his theory of evolution answered the question of creation. He wrote:

"... SCIENCE AS YET THROWS NO LIGHT ON THE FAR HIGHER PROBLEM OF THE ESSENCE OR ORIGIN OF LIFE." CHARLES DARWIN, THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES, P. 637

Imagine with me a moment:

Billions of years ago, a big bang produced a large rock.

As the rock cooled, sweet brown liquid formed on its surface.

As time passed, aluminum appeared and, with more time and by random chance, the aluminum shaped itself into a sphere which finally took the form of a can.

Realizing that a good thing was happening, random time and chance developed a lid so the sweet brown liquid could get out.

But wanting to perfect this amazing invention even further, time and chance ultimately created a tab.

But something was yet missing. So…

As millions of years floated by, red and white paint fell from the sky, and formed itself into the words, "Coca Cola: 12 fluid ounces."

WA LAH!! (HOLD IT UP) The Coke Can was complete!

Of course, this theory is an insult to your intellect, because you know that the Coca Cola can is clearly designed.

If it is designed, there must be a DESIGNER.

The alternative—that it happened by chance or accident—is to enter into an INTELLECTUAL FREE ZONE.

The Bible says, “Look around you. Look at the stars, planets, sun and moon.”

Ps. 19: 1- 5 “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.”

Consider the mammals, marine life, insects, reptiles, plant life, and human beings.

Seriously stop and consider whether all of this magnificent, multifaceted display of life in all of its complexity could actually have come about through TIME AND RANDOM CHANCE.

I say, ILLOGICAL, IMPOSSIBLE, UN-REASONABLE.

Look at the EYEBALL: (No pun intended)

The eye has 40,000,000 nerve endings, the focusing muscles move an estimated 100,000 times a day, and the retina contains 137,000,000 light sensitive cells!

Again, Charles Darwin wrote in chapter 6 of his Origin of Species,

"To suppose that the eye, with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and color changes, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree." (The Origin of Species, Chapter 6).

Yet, the eye is only a small part of the most sophisticated part of creation—the human body.

Let’s take the HEART:

Did the first heart really evolve from nothing?

How long did the 12 different parts of the heart take to develop where it could function effectively?

How many defective parts were discarded before this incredible mechanism of life finally “evolved” to perfection?

And when did the first heart send a message to “mother evolution” that it needed arteries to receive the blood it wanted to pump?

And how long did it wait for those arteries?

There are approximately 60,000 miles of blood vessels in an adult human body.

How long did it take for evolution—TIME AND CHANCE—to bring about all those arteries from nothing?

Not to mention—how long did those arteries have to wait for the human body of bone, sinew, tissue and skin needed to contain them?

And speaking of that blood; how long did the first heart lie there patiently waiting for blood to appear so that it would have something to pump?

I would say to you, this stretches common sense, tortures logic, and defies reason. It’s not reasonable!

George Gallup, the famous statistician, said,

"I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone; the chance that all the functions of the body would just happen, is a statistical monstrosity."

Albert Einstein said,

"Everyone who is seriously interested in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that A SPIRIT is manifest in the laws of the universe—A SPIRIT VASTLY SUPERIOR TO MAN..."

FACT: Since evolution is still called a “theory” then it is actually a FAITH-BASED RELIGION, because it requires a leap of faith to embrace it.

YOU KNOW IT’S A MYTH? (Says the billboard) THIS SEASON, CELEBRATE…REASON?

These simple examples are only the bare tip of the huge iceberg of impossibilities that face us when we consider the claims of atheistic, Darwinian evolution.

So, I’d love to celebrate reason. But atheistic evolution, for me, is not REASONABLE…

The Bible springs from the starting gate with a counter claim to atheistic evolution:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”—Gen. 1:1

In Isaiah, God declares, “I have made the earth, and created man on it. My hands—stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded.”—45:12

How does all this pertain to Christmas?

Because once you come face to face with the reality of a Creator God Who made all things, it’s not an act of ignorance, stupidity, or insanity to believe that “the power of the Most High” overshadowed Mary, and Christ was conceived via the Holy Spirit.

The angel told Joseph, “That which is conceived in her is of or by the Holy Spirit.”

So rather than the Virgin birth, better to call it the Virgin Conception.

Church, we stand on the Holy Ground of a great miracle brought about by a supernatural Creator God.

The angel’s proclamation is true, A virgin conceived and brought forth God’s only Son.

Matthew 1:22-23 - Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

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