Taught 12/21/08
Christ before the manger
Welcome and Merry Christmas!
Would you open your Bibles to…
Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
Luke 2:2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
Luke 2:3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Luke 2:4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
Luke 2:5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
Luke 2:6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Pray
Intro
√ Christ before the manger
During the Christmas holiday we of course focus the birth of Jesus Christ.
We set up manger scenes with a little Baby Jesus prominently displayed.
We sing songs that celebrate His birth.
We read the Christmas account in Scripture and marvel that God would send His Son into such a impoverished place.
All of which is good and proper!
But, the downside is that with all the emphasis on Jesus’ birth we can forget that His birth in Bethlehem did not signal the beginning of His existence!
The truth is that Jesus has always existed.
He is the One eternal self-existent God!
So, this morning I’d like to take a look at Christ before the Manger!
Ap. Christmas celebration
Our Christmas celebration will be so much the richer spiritually if we keep in mind that the miracle we’re celebrating isn’t just the birth of a child…
…it’s the marvel of the Incarnation, that the all-powerful, all-knowing, Creator of the Universe invaded human history in the form of a human child so that He could save us from our sins!
Christ the Center
The first point I’d like to make is that Jesus is the central focus of the entire Bible.
That is, the record of His birth in the Gospels is not the first time He shows up in the Biblical record.
Rather, we find that He is the central theme of God’s communication to Man from Genesis to Revelation.
As Lewis Chafer, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary wrote…
The Bible, opening with the words, “In the beginning God” (Gen. 1:1), and closing with reference to “the Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20-21), is preeminently a revelation of Jesus Christ. Though the Bible obviously treats many subjects…including the history of man, the existence of angels, the revelation of God’s purposes for the nations, Israel, the Church, and includes in its revelations facts from eternity past to eternity future…Jesus Christ is revealed as the Center.
He is presented as the Creator, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the saints, the Head of the Church, and King of kings over all Creation.
As the theme of divine revelation, the Person and work of Jesus Christ threads its way from the first to the last book of the Bible.”
The Bible is, as Jon Courson likes to say…
“All about Him!”
We don’t have time to examine all of the Biblical references that declare this truth but let me provide you with a few to lay the foundation for this truth.
√ The Biblical record
On at least 3 occasions Jesus claimed that the entirety of the Bible is focused on Him…
Traveling with the two men on the road to Emmaus…
Luke 24:27 “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
Speaking to the disciples…
Luke 24:44 “Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
Rebuking the religious leaders…
John 5:39 “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
The point is that the entirety of the Old Testament (“the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms) points to the Messiah.
The 1st prophecy given to Man is the promise of a Savior.
What seems to be an exercise in boredom, the long lists of genealogies recorded, is actually the divine record that allows us to trace the lineage of Messiah back to the first human being.
The prophets, major and minor, all speak of the future kingdom of God on earth that will be ruled by the Messiah.
The oldest book of the Bible, Job, looks ahead with confidence to the Resurrection where he knows that he will stand before the Messiah King.
To read the Old Testament and to miss Messiah is to read the scripture with either an antichrist bias or such carelessness as to make the words meaningless.
Thus the angel who escorted John through the Revelation cried out…
Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” ~ Rev. 19:10b
Ap. Make Christ the center of your Christmas celebration
Since the Bible, which is God’s prophetic word to Mankind, is centered on Christ…
…let’s determine in our heart to make Christ the center of our Christmas celebration!
Christ the Eternal
Only of Jesus can it be said that his birth did not signal the beginning of His existence!
All others, humans and angels, came into being at a point in time as we are all created, not the Creator.
Humans come into existence at conception.
We do not pre-exist in some spirit realm as some cults claim.
Rather, we come into existence at conception and are welcomed into the world at our birth.
Jesus, however, existed in eternity past with the Father and the Spirit prior to His miraculous conception and birth in a manger.
√ Christ the eternal
There are many verses that speak of Jesus’ eternal existence, but we only have time to look at a few. Keeping with our Christmas theme let’s being with a look at the scripture that foretells Jesus’ birth…
Mic. 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
The night that Jesus was arrested He prayed…
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
John records the words of Jesus in His glorified state…
Rev. 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The doctrine that Jesus preexisted and is eternal is important because if He is not eternal then He is not God because God is eternal!
If Jesus is not God then His sacrifice on the Cross was not sufficient to cover the sins of Mankind!
The only acceptable substitute for the sins of Mankind is an infinitely perfect life.
God alone meets that requirement.
So, the Bible declares that long before that first Christmas day when Jesus was born in Bethlehem that He already existed…
…for Christ is eternal because He is God!
Ap. Worship Christ the eternal
Compared to eternity our lives here on earth are but a vapor.
Additionally we have no idea just how long we have as we do not know the hour of our death, nor of time of the Rapture of the Church.
Therefore, in light of how little time we have let’s make sure that we use this Christmas time to thank the eternal Christ who has given us eternal life through simple faith in Him!
Christ the Creator
Perhaps the most obvious evidence that Jesus existed before the manger is that the Bible tells us that He is the Creator!
Ergo, if He created the universe, both material and spiritual, then He had to exist before the manger, which He created!
One of many scriptures that attribute the creation to Jesus is found in John’s Gospel…
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
And Paul writes…
Col. 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
Normally when we think of the Creator we think of God the Father, not God the Son.
Yet as we see in these two verses the Bible clearly attributes creation to Jesus the Son.
Actually you’ll find that the Bible attributes creation to Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Once more revealing the mystery of the Trinity, that somehow beyond our comprehension that God is…
…One being manifest in Three Persons who work together in perfect harmony.
One theologian, Millard Erickson, expressed the mystery of how God did the work of the creation this way…
“The creation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit.”
Ap. Worship Christ the Creator this Christmas!
Staring at the majesty of the starry host David wrote…
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” ~ Ps. 8:3-4
As David beheld the greatness of God’s creation, he sensed his own smallness and insignificance.
In short, David was humbled.
As we celebrate Christmas this year may we do so with a humble heart as we ponder the greatness of Christ the Creator!
Christ Before the Manger
One of the more fascinating and fun evidences that Jesus existed before the manger is that there are a number of examples in the Old Testament where God showed up in human form!
Theologians call these Old Testament appearances of Christ a “theophany”…
…”theos” for “God” and “phaino for “to appear”.
Since no one has ever seen God the Father (ref. John 6:46), then the God who shows up and speaks with humans must be God the Son…
…Christ before the manger!
Ex. God and Abraham
Gen. 18:1 Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
This verse is significant because the word “LORD” is the personal name of Jehovah God, most commonly associated with God the Father!
Yet, here we find God eating lunch with Abraham and walking and talking with him!
Jesus tells us in John 6:46 that no man has ever seen the Father so the question then is who did Abraham see, talk with, and prepare lunch for!?
It had to be Jesus the Son who alone of the Godhead appears to humans in the form of a Man, in fact, Jesus tells the religious leaders that He was the one whom Abraham saw!
John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
John 8:57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Additionally all through the Old Testament we find other examples of pre-incarnate appearances of Jesus in which He is called the “Angel of the Lord” who is…
Worshipped as God (Judges 13, especially vs. 22)
Claims to be God (ref. Gen. 22:11-12)
Identified with God (Exodus 3)
Don’t let the word “angel” confuse you as the word simply means “messenger”.
There are many angels like Gabriel and Michael who are created beings and who do not receive worship (ref. Rev. 19:10) as only God should be worshipped.
They are different than the “Angel of the Lord” who is not a created being.
Also distinct from “an angel of the Lord” in the New Testament.
Rather, the “Angel of the Lord” is the “messenger of the Lord” a perfect title for Christ who is in the New Testament called the “word of God” who brings The Message of God to the world.
In any event it’s a fun study to look at how many times the Angel of the Lord, that is Jesus, shows up in the Old Testament…
Promised to bless Hagar and Ishmael’s descendants
Spoke to Abraham numerous times
Led the children of Israel during the Exodus
Appeared to the people all through the book of Judges
So, in every place in the Old Testament you find God showing up in human form it is Jesus…
…Christ before the manger.
Ap. This Christmas worship the preincarnate Christ
The most outstanding characteristic of the Angel of the Lord is that He seems to show up at just the right time to help people when they really need God in their lives!
When Israel needed a deliverer
When the outcast needed a savior
When the barren wanted a child
I’d suggest that the ultimate expression of God’s perfect timing to show up in human history just when we need Him most was that fist Christmas morning of which Paul wrote…
Gal. 4:4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Gal. 4:5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
The “fullness of the time” is rich with meaning, it literally means…
“At just the right time”
That is, it was the time that God foreordained (preplanned) would be the perfect time in human history to send Jesus to the earth to save us from our sins!
Close
√ Christ before the manger
So, as we prepare to celebrate Christmas, the day that God showed up in human history, let’s not forget that it wasn’t the first time He visited the sons of Men.
He shows up when we need Him most, and most often when we least expect Him!
Perhaps you need God to show up in your life. While He may chose not to appear to you we have His promise that He will answer when we call.
So, dedicate this Christmas to the Christ before the manger, the…
Center theme of the Bible
Eternal God who is self-existent
Creator who made you so that He could love you
Pray to Him and watch for He will come to you when you need Him most!