THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS
TEXT - ISAIAH 9:6
Introduction
An expectant mother was being rushed to the hospital, but didn’t make it on time. Instead, she gave birth to her baby on the hospital lawn. Later, the father received a bill listing the “delivery room fee” at $500. He wrote the hospital and asked why he was charged a delivery room fee when his baby was born on the front lawn of the hospital. About a week later, he received a letter from the hospital explaining that they corrected the error. Instead of being charge $500 for a delivery room, he was being charge $500 for “green fees.”
I’m sure most all of you have heard horror stories of how a baby was born in the back seat of a car, on the freeway or in a plane.
This morning I’d like to speak to you about the birth of Jesus.
In the early 19th century, a war-weary world was anxiously watching the march of Napoleon. All the while, babies were being born.
In 1809, midway between the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo, William E. Gladstone was born in Liverpool, England; Alfred, Lord Tennyson in Somersby, England; Oliver Wendell Holmes in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg, Germany; and Abraham Lincoln in Hodgenville, Kentucky. People's minds were occupied with battles, not babies. Yet nearly 200 years later, is there the slightest doubt about which made the greater contribution to history—those battles or those babies?
So it was with the birth of Jesus. The Bethlehem crowds had no inkling that the Son of God was asleep in their little town. Only a few shepherds came to see Him, and they left glorifying God.
Oh, how we need to recapture some of the marvel and wonder of that infant child coming into the world! He came into this war-torn world of selfishness and sin for one purpose—to die as a sacrifice for our sins. The forgiveness He offers will satisfy the deepest need of our hearts. Truly, Jesus is a gift for all ages. Have you by faith received that gift?
He did not use a silvery box
Or paper green and red;
God laid His Christmas gift to me
Within a manger bed. —Prentice
No gift is more needed by a dying world than the life-giving Savior
Our test is found in Isaiah 9:6 which says, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
CIRCLE THE WORD “WONDERFUL”
This morning as we consider what the Bible says about the birth of Jesus I would like us to focus on how wonderful it is. Almost every birth is wonderful, but the birth of Jesus is the most wonderful birth that has ever taken place.
Some might ask, “What’s so wonderful about being born in a manger with a bunch of animals?” or “What’s so wonderful about having a feeding trough for a crib?” or “What’s so wonderful about having a mother who is accused of being unchaste?”
Well, here in our text we are given three reasons why the birth of Jesus was so wonderful. Let’s look at them and experience the wonder of Christmas together.