Why the Baby?
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There are 2 things I love about Christmas.
There are 2 things I love about Christmas.
I love pulling out my old Christmas music and listening to it.
I have:
Classical Christmas music.
Classic Christmas music.
Country Christmas music.
Irish Christmas music.
And even hill billy Christmas music.
But what I love even more is watching old Christmas movies.
As the evenings get longer, and the weather gets colder, I like to turn on the fireplace, sit on the couch, and watch an old Christmas movie, with the orange flicker of fire on the walls.
After watching enough of these movies, you start to see a common trend among all of them.
None of them are very unique.
All Christmas movies, have the same common theme.
The main character wants something.
He gives everything for that something.
Only to learn that he already had what was important … and it wasn’t what he thought it was.
This simple story line goes all the way back.
The granddaddy of Christmas stories, Charles Dicken’s Christmas Carol has this.
Old Scrooge wanted money.
He wanted lots of money.
But in the end, he learned that it’s friend and kindness that are important.
There is It’s A Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart.
He’s given up on his dreams.
He wants more.
And in the end, he learns that he’s always been the successful man he’s wanted to be.
He’d touched countless lives.
There’s the forgettable Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Jingle All the Way.
Arnold’s character, Howard Langston, wants to give his son the super rare, Turbo Man action figure.
The movie is all about Howard Langston’s outrageous attempts to give his everything for the doll, so that his son would be impressed.
And in the end, he learns, his son is already proud of him.
He already possessed what his son wanted.
It seems as if most Christmas movies follow this same plot.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
A Christmas Story.
All follow this same format.
Though I’ll be honest, I don’t know if Die Hard or Gremlins follow this theme, but it’s debatable whether those are Christmas movies or not.
While these stories are wildly entertaining, they are also wildly misleading.
What you need isn’t already inside you.
If it was … then you wouldn’t be in need.
You wouldn’t be lacking.
Tonight we ask the question, “Why the baby?”
Why the celebration over a child?
What could I possibly be lacking, that would require God to enter into His creation as a child?
We are left with 3 facts.
3 Reasons.
These are 3 reasons you need Jesus.
Which then become 3 true reasons to celebrate Christmas
You need a better human.
You need a Savior.
You need a Lord.
We find these 3 reasons in .
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
That verse contains 3 facts, or 3 reasons, or 3 things you need.
First, You need a Better Human
First, You need a Better Human
The first fact from that verse is, “She will bear a son”.
At Christmas time, we celebrate the arrival of Jesus.
But not just any arrival.
You or I go on a vacation, we pack everything we need.
Put it all into a suitcase.
Get on a plane, fly to our destination.
You have someone pick you up from the airport, and where do they pick you up from?
The arrival section.
That’s not how Jesus arrived.
Jesus didn’t pack his bags.
Hop on a plane.
And arrive as an adult, and say, “I’m here. I’m ready to die for you.”
Jesus didn’t come as an adult, but as a child.
Why would Jesus need to come as a child?
Because of your first need, you need a better human.
Your average Christmas story has the underlying assumption that there is nothing wrong with you.
We have all we need already.
It’s lying dormant within your heart.
And I think the reason why we enjoy these Christmas movies so much, is that the overall message is that we are better than we truly are.
A marathon is 26.2 miles.
A runner may run really well for 25 miles.
But if he trips, falls and hurts himself in that 25th mile, so that he cannot finish the race … it doesn’t matter how well he ran in those first 25 miles … he didn’t finish the race.
The first 25 miles don’t count.
Imagine if you had a group of runners who all dropped out of a race.
One brags and says, “I ran 15 miles.”
Another says, “I ran 10 miles, but really fast.”
A third says, “I ran further than all of you, 25 miles.”
If none of them finished the race … it doesn’t matter how well they ran or how far they went.
They are all disqualified.
They didn’t finish the race.
The average Christmas movie is nothing more than a bunch of disqualified runners saying their failure isn’t as bad as others.
Yet the Bible says things a bit clearer, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
We’ve all fallen short.
We’ve all failed the race.
We’ve all failed the race.
God says:
That’s the race.
Live your whole life absolutely perfect.
And yet none of us have done that.
We have all tripped and fallen.
says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
There’s the fall.
Sadly, this is not true.
There is something wrong with us.
And we never want to hear this.
Even when you know something is wrong … you don’t want to hear it.
What is wrong with us is that we don’t meet the expectations and standards that God has set for us.
Tell the truth … and we lie.
He says love others … and we gossip and slander them.
He says worship me only … and we say don’t tell me what to do.
God has said do these things … and you will live.
And so you may live your whole life doing really good at obeying them.
But if you just sin once … the marathon is over.
You have fallen short of the glory of God.
The first reason for us celebrating Christmas is we need a better human.
We have not finished the race.
A runner may run really well for 25 miles.
We have sinned.
But if he trips and falls in that 25th mile so that he cannot finish the race … it doesn’t matter how good he ran in those first 25 miles … he still didn’t finish the race.
We need someone to do what we could not and do it for us.
The first 25 miles don’t count.
We need someone who can start at the very beginning and run to the very end.
God has said be perfect.
We need someone who can live a complete life, absolutely perfectly … and never sin.
That’s the race.
For that to happen, this better human must start as a baby.
Live your whole life absolutely perfect.
And yet none of us have done that.
It’s the only way to live the whole life.
We have all tripped and fallen.
The baby is the starting line to the marathon.
The finish line is year 33.
“She will bear a son ...”
And this child will do something no one else has ever done.
says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
He will run the whole race perfectly.
There’s the fall.
No trips.
No stumbles.
No sin.
The celebration is the arrival of someone who can do what we could not.
This is the start of a mission to save.
Which then leads us to the second reason you need Jesus, because You need a Savior.
Which then leads us to the second reason you need Jesus, because You need a Savior.
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus ...”
He saves.
A great question to ask yourself is what does He save you from?
Think about your sin.
Hatred.
Gossip.
Worry.
The average Christmas movie says you don’t need saved … you need to reach down inside and save yourself.
Slander.
Lust.
Who are these sins against?
If they are against you … then the Christmas movies are right.
You have everything you need within you.
But the 10 commandments, the law, weren’t given by any man.
They were given by God to man.
King David one time was thinking about his own sin.
And he said to God, “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
Our sin is not against ourselves … it’s against God.
And if our sin is against God … then He is who our debt is with.
He’s the one who will judge us for our sins.
He’s who needs to be paid for your sin.
The one who gave the law, is the one who will judge you for the breaking of the law.
And there is no way to make things right with God.
If you go the traditional Christmas movie route … it won’t happen.
The second reason for Christmas is because you need a Savior.
As it stands, we have fallen.
We have sinned.
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, -”
Why?
“For -”
“Because he will save his people ...”
This is a certainty.
One of the saddest Christmas songs is “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
It comes from the musical, “Meet Me in St. Louis”.
The song is sung by Judy Garland.
In the musical, the family has just been told they will be moving to New York.
The family is upset, and Judy Garland sings those memorable words.
You can hear the heartache and the uncertainty in the words.
“Through the years, We all will be together, If the Fates allow, Hang a shining star upon the highest bough. And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.”
Hopefully we will be together … if the fates allow.
There’s not much certainty in this world.
I don’t want to give you the possibility of a Merry Christmas.
Judy Garland says “We will be together if the fates allow.”
If
She hopes they will be with each other in the future.
In fact, I don’t want to come up in front of you and speak in those uncertain kinds of tones.
It’s supposed to rain tomorrow … but it’s California, who knows if it will or not.
I can’t tell you any guarantees.
But this verse does give us a certainty.
He is called Jesus … for he will save his people from their sins.
Jesus saved His people from sins when He went to the cross.
Because it was while He was on the Cross, that the sins that we cannot repay, were put on Him.
And He suffered for us.
And He died for us.
What I’m trying to show you is that you need Jesus.
You need him to live for you.
And you need Him to die for you.
And this saving
And how do you know when He has saved you?
And how do you know when He has saved you?
How do you know when this has been applied to you?
How do you know when this has been applied to you?
That’s found in our third point, You need a Ruler.
That’s found in our third point, You need a Ruler.
Jesus is kind.
He saves.
But notice who He saves.
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Who does He save from sins?
His people.
If I were reading that for the first time, I’d be asking this question, “How do I know if I am one of His people?”
How do you know if you are a citizen of a nation?
How do you know if you
You obey its rules.
You embrace its history.
You pledge allegiance to its flag.
And in much the same way, you know that you are a child of God, when your allegiance changes from what it used to be, to being in love with God and obeying Him.
You see many people think they are children of God … but they don’t live like children of God.
Their actions say otherwise.
Jesus says, that the day is coming when people will stand before Him.
And He will say, “I never knew you; depart from me you workers of lawlessness.”
I know that this is a negative statement, so let me make it positive.
Those who will remain are those who obey Him.
Who proclaim Jesus to be Lord.
And who live it out in action.
You need Jesus.
You need Jesus.
And you repent of your sins.
And when you understand your need for Jesus … then this time of the year becomes even more special.
And the festivities don’t come to an end on December 26.
Because you find that your prayers remain the same.
Your motivation for worship remains the same.
This isn’t a once a year topic.
It’s something you think about and live out your whole life.
You need Jesus.
Do you have Jesus?
Did He live his life for you?
Has He saved you?
Has it been made clear in your life that you are one of His people?
I hope so.
And it’s my prayer that this would be true in your life.
Please let me know how I can help you on this journey.