Christmas

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Some of my fondest memories as a child involve the sears catalog.  

That thing was massive!  Every year, my mother would hand me a pen and instruct me to flip through and to circle anything I wanted and write my name next to it.  Dutifully and with excessive glee I would flop down on the floor in front of the fireplace and turn with trembling fingers to the toy section.  Oh the bliss of those afternoons searching for toys that I couldn’t wait to uncover Christmas morning.  It’s a shame that the sears catalog is no longer the behemoth it once was; clicking the wishlist on Amazon just doesn’t have the same tangible thrill to me today.  With the book fully marked and every toy page covered in circles I would wait eagerly till Christmas morning.  

Now to be fair, I did get some toys on Christmas morning but the assortment under the tree was always paltry compared to the selection in the catalog.  Hindsight informs me that my parents were both loving and generous but invariably Christmas morning would arrive not merely with a much smaller collection of things that I wanted but always seemed to include with it a passel of items I needed but did not necessarily want. Every Christmas I was certain to find things like jeans that covered my ankles and lacked the holes I was prone to putting in them, shirts to replace the ones I had outgrown and the most dreadful yet needful Christmas present of all: socks and underwear!
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It is now twenty days till Christmas. In a scant three weeks the hustle of the season will be over and for good or for ill, wrapping paper will litter the floor and we’ll be coming home from Morning worship to settle into a long Christmas day of celebration. We who dwell in these days have the freedom to anticipate the day of Christ’s birth. But imagine living in need of his coming and not knowing when it will be. In a sense we have a taste of that because we are waiting for his return. But if you examine our lives for the most part you will find that we do not really need his coming. We are content to live our lives on the confines of this earth – fallen though it is; and though our thoughts turn however frequently to the return of Christ; that return is often hoped for as little more than an opportunity to escape some discomfort in this life rather than because we have a deep seated longing to be righteous with him forever.
The reason for this spiritual laxity in our own lives is perhaps the same reason for the spiritual laxity in those who do not know Christ. The more that we who know Him are aware of the greatness of our salvation; the more we will be moved to worship Him. In the same way, the more that those who do not know him become more aware of their desperate need of salvation – the greater will be their hunger to come to Him.
The Greatness of our fall defines the greatness of our need for the greatness of our Savior. So this morning let’s go back to the beginning in order to plumb the depths of the greatness of our Fall and by seeing the greatness of our need we will see the greatness of our savior.

We were created to be with God & Share in His Glory

Psalm 24 intones, “who is this king of glory?” And then answers with a resounding, “The Lord of hosts, He is the king of Glory.”

This morning, as we continue celebrate the birth of Christ I want to briefly look at the infant in the manger and see his name and recognize just who is this king of Glory through looking at seven identifications of the baby in the manger in answer to the question: “Who is this king of glory?”

Jesus

We begin with the name that Gabriel commanded he be given before He was even in the womb.

In the gospel of Luke we read...

“ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 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 name Him Jesus . ” ( Luke 1:26–31 , NAS)

Afterward Gabriel in turn spoke to Joseph and he commanded that man saying, ““ She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” ” ( Matthew 1:21 , NAS)

When Gabriel first speaks to Mary he calls her “Favored one” That is, “One who has received much grace!” As she pondered the greeting his explanation concludes that she will name Him Jesus.