IN.FIN.8 part 7
“The Birth of
Jesus”
Sunday, August
18th, 2013-MRWC
We
are in week 7 of our IN.FIN.8 sermon series, looking at 8 of the greatest
stories forever told.
All
of the stories that we have shared with you this summer lead up to the Main
Event of the Bible; The Greatest story forever told: the birth, death and
Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This
is the central thought that runs through the pages of the Bible. The apostle
Paul wrote in Galatians 4:
“When the right time
came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to
the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” (4:4-5, NLT2)
Paul told us
why Jesus came to this earth; to pay the price that sin demanded, so we could
have the opportunity to live with God for ever!
In his letter
to the Romans, Paul wrote: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(NLT2)
Jesus entered
this world to break the power of sin and death and guilt and shame and fear,
and He makes it possible for us to live with God forever!
As we continue
on in this series, we’re going to go back to that day in Bethlehem and look at
the Birth of Jesus and see how it still applies to us today.
The
birth of Jesus is recorded for us in two places in the New Testament, the
Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.
We’re
going to be looking at Luke’s account this morning, and as we begin, I would
like for you to consider one question that will hold this message together: Do you have
room for Jesus?
We’ll
be coming back to this question in a few moments, so if you have a Bible, I
invite you to turn with me to Luke chapter 2.
If you don’t have a Bible, there should be one in front of you, or it
will be behind me.
We’ll
be looking at verses 1-7 of Luke chapter 2:
“In those days Caesar Augustus
issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.)
3
And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in
Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the
house and line of David.
5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged
to be married to him and was expecting a child.
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to
be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.
She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:1-7,
NIV)
In this
familiar story, we are introduced to Caesar Augustus, who was considered by
many historians to be the greatest Roman emperor of all time. He ruled from 27
BC to 14 AD.
At this time,
the known world was under Roman rule, and they enjoyed many benefits from Roman
rule-- transportation, and a common language- Greek, just to name two.
They also
enjoyed "the Pax Romana"—the
peace of Rome.
The surrounding
world might not have enjoyed being under Roman authority, but Caesar was a
powerful man and had a huge army, so there wasn’t much the common man could do
about it.
Because Caesar
had such a large army, it demanded upkeep, so he decided that he would: “issue a decree that
a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.” (Luke 2:1, NIV)
Those in the
know believe that this census was also a tax to pay for the military.
No matter what
it was; a census, or a tax, or both, Joseph packed up his pregnant wife and
what little belongings they may have had and began the three day journey from
Nazareth to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem.
While Joseph
and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came from their Son to be born.
This is an
important detail that we need not miss.
Before Caesar
issued his decree, Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth, but that wasn’t
where the Promised Messiah was to be born, so at the right time, a decree went
out requiring everyone to return to their own hometown.
It almost
sounds as if God had intended it to be this way. If this is how it sounds, it
is because it was intended to be this way.
In Micah
chapter 5:2, we read: “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are
only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will
come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past." (5:2, NLT2)
It was
prophesied, hundreds of years before, that the Messiah would be born in
Bethlehem; Caesar was simply playing the part that he was supposed to play in
the birth of Jesus Christ.
As was already
mentioned, while Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, their Son was born.
We don't know
if Jesus was born the day they arrived in Bethlehem, or two weeks later, the
text does not say...
But Matthew
tells us that the Baby born to them was to be named Jesus: “because he will save his people from their
sins." (Matthew 1:21, NIV)
The Name Jesus
means “The
Lord Saves” and Jesus certainly
lived up to His Name.
In what could
be referred to as His mission statement, Jesus said: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what
was lost." (Luke 19:10, NIV)
This was Jesus’
whole purpose for coming to this earth: to find what was lost.
What was lost?
You. Me. Everyone on planet earth.
Because of sin,
we are separated from God. Because Jesus came to this earth to pay the price
that sin demanded, we have the opportunity to be with God once again.
Jesus has come
to this earth to seek and save us!
This is where
we come back to the question I asked you at the beginning of the message: Do you have
room for Jesus?
We are told
that after Jesus was born, his mother: “wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because
there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke
2:7, NIV)
Because
everyone had returned to their hometown for the census, there weren’t any
available rooms at the Bethlehem Bed and Breakfast, so Joseph and Mary spent
their first few nights as new parents in the barn with the animals.
ILLUSTRATION-
Growing up, I had the opportunity work at the Silverwood Motel as a Sanitary
engineer; which is a word I made up for dishwasher.
This was a job I had while attending
High-school; and my last day working at the Silverwood motel was the day before
I headed off to Kingswood University.
During my fourth year at Kingswood,
I had the opportunity to return to the Silverwood motel to work, only this time
I was working the front desk.
One of the responsibilities that
summer was processing guests who wanted to spend a night at our motel.
When all the rooms were rented, I
had to walk out to the road sign and change the “Vacancy” sign to a “No vacancy”
sign.
This would tell other travellers that there was no
room at the Silverwood Motel that night for them.
Many people
have a no-vacancy sign hung upon the door of their hearts, because they have no
room for Jesus.
Some people
have no room for Jesus because they fear that He will ask them to give
something up.
Some people
have no room for Jesus because of something a “Christian” did to them a long
time ago.
Still other people
have no room for Jesus because they don’t want “someone telling them what to
do.”
People all over
the world—maybe even in our world—have relegated Jesus to a barn, a garage, a
manger, because they have no room from Him in their Inn.
If we have no
room for Jesus; if we hang a “no vacancy” sign on the door of our hearts, Jesus
will stay out in the cold.
If we choose to
leave Jesus out of our lives, He will not force His way in. He will remain
exactly where we asked Him to remain.
But let us not blame
God when something happens; when our whole world comes crashing down, let’s not
play the “God card” and wonder why God would/could let this happen.
God was exactly
where we wanted Him to be: on the outside looking in.
If we leave
Jesus outside of our lives, one day He will leave us on the outside looking in:
In Matthew
chapter 10 Jesus said:
“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I
will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also
deny before my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33, NIV)
By
not having room for Jesus in our lives, we will miss out on living the life
that He wants us to live.
While Jesus
will stay exactly where we ask Him to stay, He doesn’t want to remain there.
He is, at this
moment, standing at the door of your heart, and He is knocking.
“If anyone hears my
voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev.
3:20, NIV)
Jesus has come
into this world to bring you back to God. So the only question is: Do you have
room for Jesus?
Do you have the
One who will uphold you when all hell breaks loose in your life?
Do you have the
One who can change you from the person you are, into the person you can be?
Do you have the
One who can make sense of things when things don’t make sense?
Do you have room for Jesus; or have you
left Jesus out in the barn because you have no room for Him in your inn?
The choice,
dear friend is up to you. Your mamma can’t chose for you, you niece can’t chose
for you, only you can choose to make room for Jesus in your life.
Do you have room for Jesus? Ultimately that
can be answered in one of two ways:
Yes, I choose to give Jesus the room that He wants
in my life.
(And while we’re
on the topic, Jesus wants all of your life, not some, much or most; He wants it
all)
Or No I choose to
leave Jesus outside my life because I have no room for Him in my inn.
Joshua asked
the people a similar question. The children of Israel had received the Promised
Land, and in Joshua’s final words to the people, He said to them:
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all
faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River
and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.
15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you,
then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your
forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
you are living.
But as for me and my household, we will serve the
LORD."
(Joshua 24:14-15, NIV)
Jesus was born
into this world at just the right time to make it possible for you to live with
God forever, but the choice is up to you.
Will you choose
to open the door of your heart to God; or will you serve some foreign god, that
isn’t really a god at all?
I know whom I
chose.
How about you; do you have
room for Jesus?
In just a
moment, the band is going to come back and we’re going to have an opportunity
to answer this question on our own.
If you choose
to give Jesus the room that He deserves in your life; either for the first time
or the hundredth time, then I’m going to ask you to proclaim that to Him.
You can do that
by standing where you are, by raising your hand, or even by coming to the front
of the church and giving God your all.
Please know
that if you chose not to stand, raise your hand or even come to the front of
the church, no one will point you out, laugh at your or even make you feel
guilty for not responding.
This is an
opportunity for all of us to talk with God, not point the finger at one
another.
So if you want
to let God know that you have room for Jesus—and no room for anything or anyone
else—I’m going to invite you to respond as God may lead you.
Isaiah reminded
us that the Christ Child was given to and for us (Is.9:6), the only question
that demands to be answered is: Do you have room for Jesus?
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