THE MARVEL OF CHRISTMAS

TEXT - LUKE 1:26-38

INTRODUCTION

This year our family did something we have never done before for Christmas.  We started the Christmas season the day after Thanksgiving by buying a Christmas tree.

That might seem a little early to some of you, but this year our family decided to get into the spirit of Christmas early.

That’s the reason why I am starting this series of messages on Christmas so early in the month.  I hope this message will help you get into the festive attitude of Christmas and help you to visualize what this time of year really means, especially to us as Christians.

How many of you have ever received a historical report on your birthday?  It’s a report that shows all the major events and the years they took place in your lifetime on your birthday.  You can get them from the Hallmark Store.

I have a special computer program that can produce these.  I made one for I.G. McGlasson’s great grandson and gave it to him on his grandfather’s funeral.  It was a report showing all the major events that took place on his birthday beginning in 1892.  It was quite an eyeopener to see all the great things that had happened throughout the years on his birthday.

I wonder, how many of you this morning know some things that happened on your birthday, besides you being born?  Can you think of any really important things that took place on the day you were born besides your birth?

Probably most of us can’t think of anything.  And that’s because, in comparison to God’s eternal plan and purpose, our life is very insignificant.

There was a day though when a little baby was born.  His name was Jesus.  It was the very first Christmas.  On that particular day in light of everything else that was going on with Roman government and the Jewish government, with all the internal problems that the people were facing, Jesus’ birth was very insignificant to the people of that day and time.

Out of all the people that were alive and lived in Israel, only a handful of people even noticed or knew about His birth, yet it had been prophesied for hundreds of years that it was going to take place.

But today, almost 2000 years later, look how significant the birth of Jesus is.  Look at how important it is.  That’s the marvel of Christmas. The fact that in a manger a baby was born and that baby was Jesus Christ.  He was born as the savior of the world.  To live as an example for all of us and then to die on the cross for our sins so we could have forgiveness and eternal life.  That’s significant.  That’s marvelous.