Christmas 2013 I. The First Blessing, the First Promise, and Miracle Babies At Christmas, we celebrate a baby being born. The birth of any baby is always something to celebrate. It always feels like a miracle, especially because it should always remind us of the very first blessing God gave to man. Genesis 1:27 28 God created man in his own image male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. So every baby that s ever born is a reminder to us of God s blessing. But then there are those special cases when the baby that was never supposed to be conceived, is; when the baby that shouldn t have made it, does. We call them miracle babies. There are at least six miracle babies in the Bible. But in order to understand what they were all really about, we have to remember not just the first blessing, but the first promise that God ever made to man. Genesis 3:14 15 The LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. God was talking to the serpent, but His words were meant for us to hear. Adam and Eve had rebelled against God. They wanted their own knowledge their own wisdom so they could live their own lives, independently of God and of His holy will. The sin of Adam and Eve is the sin of every single one of us. We re born into this world pursuing our own wisdom pursuing our own agenda and happiness, and failing to live our lives joyfully and with all of our hearts for the glory of God loving Him with all of our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind. And that sin makes us all guilty before God fully deserving of everlasting misery. But even in the moment of our fall, God was promising deliverance, salvation, redemption. It was for our sake that He said to the serpent: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So now the birth of a baby is not just a reminder of God s first blessing it s a reminder of God s first promise. I say it s a reminder. But sometimes it s more than that. Six times in the Bible God gave a miracle baby. After Adam and Eve s fall into sin, there were lots and lots of babies. But when we get to Genesis eleven, we re in for a pretty big jolt. II. Abraham and Sarah Genesis 11:27 30 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor s wife, Milcah Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. 1
How does this fit with the blessing and the promise? And why is this important for us to know? Sarai s husband was Abram, and we read in the very next chapter: Genesis 12:1 3 The LORD said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. This reminds us of God s first blessing Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. But it also reminds us of God s first promise I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So God promises children to Abram, and yet it s Abram s wife, Sarai, who just so happens to be barren. Some time later, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Genesis 15:1 6 Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and said, Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Abraham believed the Lord. Abraham trusted God s promise of a baby through whom God s salvation would come to all the nations of the earth. And God counted Abraham s faith as righteousness. Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please [God]. No amount of our good deeds, no amount of our obedience can ever please God apart from trusting His Word, and believing His promise. Abraham believed, but as more time went by there was still no baby. We read in Genesis sixteen: Genesis 16:1 2 Now Sarai, Abram s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. Sarai succeeded in getting a son (Ishmael) through the union of Abram and Hagar. So doesn t this solve the problem? Doesn t this fulfill God s word to Abram: Your very own son shall be your heir? More years passed, and God appeared again to Abram, changing his name to Abraham, and then saying: Genesis 17:15 18 As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who 2
is ninety years old, bear a child? And Abraham said to God, Oh that Ishmael might live before you! God said, No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. Doubt competes with faith. Circumstances work to undermine faith not only Abraham s, but ours as well. Not long after this the Lord spoke again to Abraham: Genesis 18:10 14 I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have [this delight; cf. NIV; HCSB]? The LORD said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. The answer to our unbelief is to hear again God s promise. The answer to our doubt is to come again to His word to hear again not only His promise, but also His question: Is anything too hard for the Lord? And so Sarah also believed the Lord. Sarah trusted God s promise of a baby through whom God s salvation would come to all the nations of the earth. And God counted Sarah s faith as righteousness. Hebrews 11:11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. No amount of our good deeds, no amount of our obedience can ever please God apart from trusting His Word, and believing His promise. And so finally, in Genesis chapter 21, we come to the birth of that very first miracle baby. Genesis 21:1 7 The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. Delirious joy, uncontrollable laughter, a kind of believing disbelief! What does it mean when a 100-year-old man and a 90-year-old woman become the first time parents of a baby boy? It means that God is sending us His salvation. In this case, it s a sign that God will bring His salvation to us through the birth of this baby boy. And so it s a call for all of us to believe God s promise of salvation and to trust His Word. III. Isaac and Rebekah So Isaac, the first miracle baby and child of God s promise grew up and married Rebekah. God had said of Isaac: 3
Genesis 17:19 I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. And yet it was Isaac s wife, Rebekah, who became the second woman in Scripture to be barren unable to have any children. The irony, though, is that this very barrenness and lack of any children was itself a reminder that God s salvation was to come through the birth of a baby. And so we read in Genesis chapter twenty-five: Genesis 25:21 Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. She conceived twins (Esau and Jacob), but even before they were born, God had chosen the younger to be the child of promise. So another miracle baby. Another sign that God will send us His salvation and that He still calls us to believe His promise and to trust His word. IV. Manoah s wife When Jacob grew up, he became the father of twelve sons as even now God continued to close and then open the womb (Gen. 29:31-30:24; 35:16-18). These twelve sons became the fathers of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. No longer would barrenness be any threat to the people of promise. We read in Exodus chapter one: Exodus 1:7 The people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. But there would still be more miracle babies. If barrenness was no longer a threat, then war and oppression and exile were because of Israel s constant sin and rebellion. It was still the same sin as always just in different forms. They lived life by their own wisdom, pursuing their own agenda and happiness. They failed to live their lives joyfully and with all of their hearts for the glory of God trusting His Word, and believing His promises. There came a time when Israel had been groaning under foreign oppression for forty long years. We read in Judges that at the end of these forty years: Judges 13:2 5 There was a certain man of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. Manoah s wife did conceive, as the angel had said, and she gave birth to a son, and called his name Samson (13:24). God used Samson to deliver and preserve His rebellious people. Through Samson s birth and life, God reminded His people of His promise, and called them to believe to trust His word, and to rejoice in faith. The offspring of the woman will yet crush the head of the serpent. The birth of Samson reminds us of a baby still to be born who will bring us God s 4
salvation not just a deliverance from foreign oppression, but a deliverance from the oppression of our own sin and the penalty of everlasting death. V. Elkanah and Hannah Some years went by, and now just listen to this beautiful story. 1 Samuel 1:1 7, 11, 19-20 There was a certain man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. [Hannah] vowed a vow and said, O LORD of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, I have asked for him from the LORD. It was through Samuel that God continued to deliver and preserve His rebellious people. And it was through Samuel that God appointed for His people a king King David, a man after His own heart. Yet another story of barrenness of a woman unable to have a baby. But this very barrenness and lack of children was itself still a reminder that God s salvation was to come through the birth of a baby. Another story of barrenness and another miracle baby. Through Samuel s birth and life, God reminds us of His promise, and He calls us to believe, just like Abraham did to trust His word, and to rejoice in true faith even as Hannah did: 1 Samuel 2:1 11 Hannah prayed and said, My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD because I rejoice in your salvation. There is none holy like the LORD: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed. Hannah saw in the miracle birth of her son a sign of the fulfillment of God s promise of a baby still to be born who would bring God s salvation to all the nations of the earth. And Hannah s faith in God s promise was counted to her as righteousness. One day, a thousand years later, another expectant mother is going to find in Hannah s prayer just the very words she needs to express her own gladness and joy. But first, Luke tells us the story of one other miracle baby : VI. Zechariah and Elizabeth Luke 1:5 7 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years. 5
Right away, we think back to Abraham and Sarah over two thousand years earlier. Sarah was barren, and both she and her husband were advanced in years. And now God is about to do the same thing one more time before the very last miracle baby. Here, for the very last time in Scripture, we meet a woman who is barren advanced in years, but having no child. And once again, the pain of her barrenness is itself a reminder to us of God s very first promise that God s salvation is to come through the birth of a baby. Luke 1:8 17 Now while [Zechariah] was serving as priest before God there appeared to him an angel of the Lord And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. We know that when John was grown: Luke 3:3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Another story of barrenness, and another miracle baby. But Zechariah at first doubted the words of the angel. Luke 1:18 20 Zechariah said to the angel, How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years. And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time. Doubt competes with faith. Circumstances work to undermine faith not only Zechariah s, but also our own. Remember what God said to Abraham and Sarah when at first they doubted His promise? Is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14) And so once again God is calling all of us very simply to believe His word, and to trust His promise. No amount of our good deeds, no amount of our obedience can ever please God apart from trusting His Word, and believing His promise. Zechariah immediately put away all of his doubts, and when his wife gave birth to their very first baby, these were the very first words out of his mouth: Luke 1:68, 76-79 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Zechariah believed God s promise of salvation, and he rejoiced and his faith was counted to him as righteousness. 6
VII. Mary And so now, finally, we come to the miracle baby of all miracle babies the baby whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. And now, as we read the story, we can understand. Luke 1:26 38 In the sixth month [of Elizabeth s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph And the virgin s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you! But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, How will this be, since I am a virgin? And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God. And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word. That s what true faith is that s the faith that pleases God. Mary saw in the miraculous conception and birth of her son the fulfillment of God s very first promise the promise of a baby who would crush the head of the serpent and bring God s salvation to sinners. Mary believed God s word and her faith in God s promise of salvation was counted to her as righteousness. When Mary needed words to express her joy and gladness, she found them in the prayer that Hannah prayed one thousand years earlier. Luke 1:46 56 And Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever. VIII. JESUS Today, does your soul magnify the Lord, and does your spirit rejoice in God? Can you say along with Mary, He has done great things for me. Holy is His name. What does it mean when a virgin conceives and gives birth to a baby boy? It means the fulfillment of God s first blessing, and God s first promise. It means that God has sent us His salvation. It means that God is calling us to believe His promise and trust His Word, because nothing in all the world, not even the salvation of sinners like you and me, is too hard for the Lord. 7
Luke 2:1 7 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 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. Jesus grew up, and He did what John the Baptist, and Samuel, and Samson, and Jacob, and Isaac had all failed to do. He lived a perfect life of joyful obedience to His Father s will. And then He died on a cross and suffered the punishment for sinners like all of us who have pursued our own agenda and happiness, and failed to live our lives joyfully and with all of our hearts for the glory of God. And now God is calling us and even commanding us to repent of our sin and to believe to trust fully in His Son for the forgiveness of our sins, and the free gift of His righteousness, and the certain promise of everlasting life. God is calling us to rejoice in FAITH and when we do, He mercifully and graciously counts this faith to us as righteousness. No amount of our good deeds, no amount of our obedience can ever please God apart from trusting His Word, and believing His promise of salvation. That s what pleases God. And that s the true meaning of Christmas. 8