The Manger & The Messengers
Notes
Transcript
Handout
1. The manger was his bed.
1. The manger was his bed.
And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
(1) A. The manger is a picture of Christ’s rejection.
(1) A. The manger is a picture of Christ’s rejection.
There was no room in the inn so Jesus was born in a manger.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
The context of this passage is the Jews rejecting Jesus.
He is still rejected today by Jews and Gentiles.
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
(1) A. The manger is a picture of Christ’s rejection.
(1) A. The manger is a picture of Christ’s rejection.
The world has rejected Christ.
We have rejected Christ.
Where does Christ fit in your life?
(1) B. The manger is a picture of Christ’s availability.
(1) B. The manger is a picture of Christ’s availability.
The King of Kings was born in a common place, not a place of royalty.
Jesus wasn’t born among the political or religious elite.
He wasn’t born among the wealthy.
This was seen through His ministry.
Jesus gravitated towards those society rejected.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
This gift of salvation is to all!!
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
(1) B. The manger is a picture of Christ’s availability.
(1) B. The manger is a picture of Christ’s availability.
2. The messengers were from Heaven.
2. The messengers were from Heaven.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
2. The messengers were from Heaven.
2. The messengers were from Heaven.
Bringing a message from God!
Breaking 400 years of silence from God.
You may be thinking… this is the way to do it … with angels.
But they gave their message to shepherds.
They were watching their sheep.
They were farmers.
They spent days in the fields.
They had little social interaction.
They weren’t wearing the best clothes.
They didn’t smell the best.
Some would say they were social outcasts.
(2) A. The shepherds who received the message were common men doing common things.
(2) A. The shepherds who received the message were common men doing common things.
We see the message coming to common men.
The angels came to shepherds.
That’s where God sent the message.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(2) A. The shepherds who received the message were common men doing common things.
(2) A. The shepherds who received the message were common men doing common things.
God is now using common men doing common things to share the good news.
It came while they were doing common things.
Want God to use you in His plan? Faithfully do what is in front of you to do.
God cares about and gave the gospel to common people.
(2) B. The shepherds were good examples.
(2) B. The shepherds were good examples.
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
They recieved the good news.
They recieved the good news.
The angels were the ones giving the good news.
The Shepherds heard and recieved it.
The listened.
They didn’t dismiss it.
They understood it was truth.
And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.
They recieved the good news.
They recieved the good news.
Receiving is more than simply hearing.
They believed the good news.
They believed the good news.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
They believed the good news.
They believed the good news.
Receiving and understanding the first step.
We must repent and believe.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
They believed the good news.
They believed the good news.
They went and found the baby.
They worshiped the baby.
James says faith without works is useless.
They shepherds could have stayed in the fields.
They responded to what they heard from the angels.
They were responding to the beginning of the good news.
The reason Christ was born in the manger.
We hated God.
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
We couldn’t change our circumstances.
Eph and Colossians tell us we were dead in our sins.
We were hopeless.
remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Jesus came to bing us hope.
They baby in the manger was destined for the cross.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
They spread the good news.
They spread the good news.
This is what we are expected to do.
The angels are not used anymore.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
They spread the good news.
They spread the good news.
When Jesus came into the world the shepherds gave us an example.
When Jesus left the world he clearly told us what to do.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
They spread the good news.
They spread the good news.
How much time have you spent pursuing people for the sake of the gospel?