Early Decorators (Prophecies of Christmas)

December 4, 2022

Do you have any friends who decorate a little too early? Some of you don’t even take down the Christmas decorations. That’s not early decorating, that’s just lazy. Rebecca and I started decorating the day after Halloween. I think in an attempt to beat Tony Brown.

My friend Jason Dunham begins a Christmas Countdown on December 26! So all year, he’s prepping for Christmas.

God is the ultimate early decorator. He started preparing for Christmas thousands of years before the first Christmas! How God got ready; he started talking about it. They are called, “Prophecies.”

 

I anchor my faith personally on four “cornerstones” of spiritual reality.

1. The Resurrection of Jesus. If God raised Jesus from the dead, then nothing else in Scripture is hard to believe.

2. Creation ex nihilo. First Cause is important to me. If there is a creation, there must be a creator; if creation has a design, then there must be a designer.

3. Archeology. The Bible is about real people in real places that can be verified.

4. Fulfilled prophecy. Only God can say with great accuracy what’s going to happen. The fulfilled prophecies give me great spiritual confidence.

Today we are looking at a specific section of prophecies; prophecies related to His Birth.

Christmas Prophecy #1: He would be

Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:26-38

Is the virgin birth important?

  • The Son of God was not a son of Adam. He was not born a sinner. A sinner could not die for Adam’s race; he could only die for his own sin.
  • The Virgin birth is proof that God can do the impossible.
  • The Virgin birth is also great evidence that Jesus is Divine. Only God can be born of a virgin.

Christmas Prophecy #2: He will be

  • Micah 5:2
  • Bethlehem was the ancestral home of Boaz, Ruth, King David. But Joseph and Mary have family in Nazareth. To get them to Bethlehem, God moved entire empires!
  • They traveled to Bethlehem. A tiny town of a population of 2-4 thousand.
  • Luke 2:7 says there was “no room for them in the Inn.” Inn is a translation of the word, “Cataluma” which is more of a public shelter where many families would have gathered.
  • Quote Muncaster: 101 Reasons you can Believe. “Also interesting is the correct Bethlehem is identified – the Bethlehem in Ephrathah (Ephrathah would be like one of today’s counties). There was another Bethlehem closer to Joseph and Mary’s home in Nazareth.”
  • Interesting, there is no prophecy of the shepherds attending his birth. The prophecy was that he would BE a shepherd. (Isaiah 40:11)

Christmas prophecy #3: He will be

  • Isaiah 60:3
  • Magi were the first gentiles to worship Jesus.

Christmas prophecy #4: He will be

  • Part of Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers 24 was that a star would rise. (Numbers 24:17)
  • What was the star? I think it was somehow the glory of the Lord.

Christmas prophecy #5: He will be

  • Psalm 72:9-11 is an amazing prophecy of the kings bowing down to Jesus and offering him gifts.
  • Matthew 2:11 specifically says the magi “bowed” before Jesus.
  • Isaiah 60:6 prophesied he would receive gifts of gold, frankincense and bring “good news.” What happened to myrrh? When Jesus died he was given myrrh. He was buried with myrrh. That myrrh represents “good news” as prophesied by Isaiah!

Christmas prophecy #6: He will be

  • This is called the “incarnation” or enfleshing of God.
  • Isaiah 9:6 promised he would be called “Mighty God.”
  • Illustration: In 1741 George Fredrick Handel was depressed, in debt, broken and deeply discouraged. In his depression, he set his eyes on Jesus, and composed the “Messiah” in 24 days. Tradition says that when it was performed before King Gorge, when the choir came to the Hallelujah Chorus, the King stood in honor of the King of Kings, Jesus.

Christmas prophecy #7: He would be stronger than

(I’ll probably skip this when preaching. . . so this is extra for the online note takers.)

  • Isa. 35:4-6: “say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.” Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.”

How do I prepare for Christmas? =

  • Be ready with an open heart to the Gospel.
  • Be ready with a joyful response.
  • Be ready with a quick yes.

 

 

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