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The Christmas Story.
 God sent the angel
Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galille to a young woman called Mary, who was engaged to a man called Joseph, who was a descendent
of king David.
When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he said,
"Peace be to you, the Lord is with you, and has greatly blessed you."
Mary
was deeply troubled, and wondered what the angel meant.
The angel said to her, "Don't
be afraid Mary, God has been gracious to you, and you will give birth to a Son, and you will call Him Jesus, He will be great
and He will be called, the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will give Him the throne
of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will never end."
Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, for I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and God's power will rest upon you.
For this
reason this Holy Child will be called the Son of God. Remember your relative Elizabeth, she could not have children,
but she herself is 6 months pregnant, even though she is very old. For there is nothing that God cannot do."
 Mary said,
"I am the Lord's servant, may it happen as you have said."
Than the
angel left Mary.
This Baby would be no ordinary baby by natural birth.
This birth was supernatural, it had to be.
Since Adam,
all men have had a sinful nature.
In Psalm 51 David admits that he has a sinful nature, and in sin his mother conceived him.
The birth of Jesus was very different.
Mary was only the vessel that God used to bring Jesus into the world.
The
Holy Spirit came upon Mary, making it possible for Jesus to be born sinless.
Mary
was not sinless, because she was only human, but she had been especially chosen by God to bring the Son of God into the
world.
Mary must have had a close relationship with God.
She had a willing submissive heart to God.
She also had faith to believe
whatever God promised that He would do.
It was not easy for Mary, in fact it must
have been extremely hard.
She would be misunderstood by many, and how would she break
the news to Joseph?
How would he react?
Mary
must have realised that God was in control and that He would work things out.
 Joseph was a man
who had a right relationship with God. When he knew that Mary was pregnant he did not want
to disgrace her publicly, so he planned to break the engagement privately. But while he
was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, descendant of David, do not
fear to take Mary to be your wife, for it is by the Holy Spirit that she will have a Son.
You
will name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."
After
the dream Joseph obeyed God, and took Mary to be his wife.
Caesar Augustus
issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. Everyone went to his own town to register.
Joseph went with Mary from Nazareth in Galille to Bethlehem because Joseph belonged to the House
and ling of king David.
While Joseph and
Mary were in Bethlehem the time came for Jesus to be born.
Why was Jesus born in
Bethlhem?
This was foretold in Micah chapter 5 verse 2.
But you Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come a Ruler who
shall rule My people Israel.
Bethlehem Ephrathah is mentioned because there were
two Bethlehems. God had a plan where His Son Should be born.
God's plan
included a visitation by angels to shepherds on the hillside in Bethlehem.
It was
just an ordinary night, but suddenly everything changed for them.
An angel appeared
to them, and they were very frightened, but the angel said, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy.
For today is born in Bethlehem, for you, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. This shall be a sign to you, you shall find
the Baby wrapped in strips of cloth, and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great
company of angels appeared with the angel, praising God, and saying,
"Glory To God
in the Highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favour rests."
When the
angels had left them and had gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go to Bethlehem, and see
this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in a manger.
When they
had seen Jesus they told others what the angel had told them about this Child.
The
shepherds returned, glorifing God and praising Him for all the things they had seen and heard, which were just as they had
been told.
These humble shepherds would never be the same again! They had seen
Jesus, the Saviour of the world, born for them personally.
They wasted no time in
sharing their good news with others. Have we found the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour?
Has He made all the difference to our lives?
If so are we as keen as those
shepherds were to share this good news whith others?
 Not only the shepherds were chosen to
see the Saviour of the world, but God was working in the hearts of Gentile rulers from the east, and gave them a desire
to search for the One who was born to be the King of the Jews.
These men studied the stars, and they had seen an
unusual star, and they had followed it.
They realised that this was no ordinary Baby.
The reason why they
had travelled all that way was that they had come to worship Him.
They came to Jerusalem expecting the Baby to
be there.
 When king Herorod
heard that a Baby had been born King of the Jews, he was very disturbed.
Herorod
called all the Jewish chief priests and the teachers of the law, and asked them where the Christ was to be born.
"In Bethlehem in Judea," they told him."
Herod
called the wise men and found out from them the exact time the star appeared.
He
sent them to make a careful search for the Child.
The wise men went on their way
and the star they had seen in the east, went ahead of them, till it stopped over the place where the Child was.
When they saw the star they were overjoyed.
 The wise men went
into the house and bowed down and worshipped Jesus.
God had shown these rulers who
this Child really was.
The King of all kings and the Lord of all lords.
They had brought costly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They
acknowledged Him as their King.
Like the shepherds, these rulers would never
be the same again. Has the Holy Spirit shown you who Jesus really is?
Have you accepted Him as your Saviour from sin?
Have you
put your trust in Him, and confessed and turned away from your sin, received Him into your life, and crowned Him King of your
life?
If not, do not wait any longer.
Do
it this Christmas, and you will be blessed.
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