Christ – Your Assurance Of A Blessed Future

Christmas service @ S’pore Indoor Stadium

preached by Pastor Joseph Prince on 21 December 2008

as noted by Yeo Choon Meng Terence

“]

Christmas Tree @ NCC 21 December 2008 service at Singapore Indoor Stadium [photo courtesy of Malcolm Loh who blogs at http://rootss.blogspot.com/

Celebrating Christmas

There should be no issues about celebrating Christmas as the birth of Christ on 25 December [Editor: even though this is probably not the exact timing which is probably in and around the period of the Feast of Tabernacles] or even in January. [Editor: In a sense, we are re-claiming what was a pagan feast, for Christ and glorifying our Lord on this day instead].

There should also be no issues about putting up a Christmas tree. Why? In a Christmas tree, there are hung lots of gifts. The Cross on which Jesus hung was also a tree. On that tree, hung the greatest ever gift – Jesus. Thus the use of Christmas trees remind us of the ultimate Christ tree – the Cross.

Salvation

Jesus’ name means Salvation.

Salvation from what? Anything and everything you need saving from.

The Christmas Story

Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

Luke 2:2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

Luke 2:3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Luke 2:4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,

Luke 2:5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

Luke 2:6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.

Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Luke 2:9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Luke 2:10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.

Luke 2:11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:12 And this [will be] the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

God positions His people

In Luke 2:1, Joseph and Mary went from Galilee to Bethlehem to be registered i.e. taxed. God can use the natural laws or decrees of the land to position you. In this case, Joseph and Mary were being positioned by God so that Mary would give birth in Bethlehem thereby fulfilling the prophecy of the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem.

God is using this present economic crisis to position his people as well. The crisis did not catch God by surprise. For instance, the new church building at One-North will now see construction costs which are considerably lower.

Joseph and Mary

Mary is blessed “among women” ( Luke 1:28 ) not above women. Joseph and Mary went through much gossip and criticism as Mary was found to be pregnant before marriage. Therefore Joseph must have loved Mary a lot for Joseph to marry Mary notwithstanding her condition.

Joseph had no part in Jesus. Today we know that the mother’s placenta supplies only food and removes waste, it does not contribute blood to the baby. The blood of the baby is determined by the father. In Jesus’ case, Royal Blood flowed in His veins — the blood of the Heavenly Father.

In Luke 2:7, we are told that Jesus was the firstborn son to Mary and Joseph. Therefore, there were other subsequent children naturally-born to this couple.

Mega Bail-Out

The mega bail-out of the human race took place 2000 years old ago when God the Father sent His only Son as a baby boy to this earth to die for our sins.

The Bible is more than our instruction manual for our lives as it is primarily a book of revelation of Jesus Christ to us.

Jesus’ Geneology

Jesus had a double legal claim to the throne. One through King Solomon (Joseph’s ancestor) and through Nathan (younger son of King David and Mary’s ancestor).

There were 4 women in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt 1) who had dubious backgrounds — Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba.

Therefore, don’t ever be shamed by your past. In fact Jesus Genealogy tells us the story of God’s Grace for you and I.

You do not need to change before you receive Jesus. Receive the acceptance of Jesus first and that acceptance will empower you to change.

This is true of Rahab.

Rahab’s story

Excavations at Jericho have revealed that only one wall in Jericho did not collapse. This is probably the wall upon which Rahab’s house was built.

Rahab’s Faith caused God to zero in on her. In this case, Rahab sheltered and kept the Israeli spies from the authorities in Jericho. God is a good God. He is gracious and He is a rewarder of Faith. He is not a punisher or taker. God therefore preserved Rahab and her family in her dwelling when the walls of Jericho collapsed and the Israelites conquered Jericho.

Faith will cause God to turn around and focus on you!

The Original Pretty Woman

Rahab married Salmon. Salmon was the son of Nashon, the prince or leader of the tribe of Judah at that time. Judah led Israel. So Nashon and Salmon (very likely at his father’s side) probably led Israel into battle and were the first to charge into Jericho. So it is probable to say that Rahab married the first man (Salmon) that charged into Jericho.

It must have been love at first sight — the original Pretty Woman story (referring to the 1990s movie starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts). Rahab, from a prostitute became a princess, by marrying Salmon, a prince of Judah!

Ruth’s Story

Ruth went to Bethlehem as she honoured her mother-in-law and her ‘hap’ (old English word) was to work and gleam in Boaz, her future husband’s field (Ruth 2:3, KJV).

God is in charge of all the haps. He make sures that you are in the right place at the right time, like Ruth.

God can make happenings happen to you.

When happenings happen to you the way you want them to happen, you are happy!

No use making resolutions and planning on your own and cutting out God. God is in control of the future and He is the best person to entrust your future to as He loves you most.

Let God be in charge of your future, not the devil!

Boaz chose Ruth as his wife. This elevated her status and freed her and her mother-in-law from poverty. Perhaps, Boaz chose Ruth as wife because she reminded him of his own mother, Rahab.

God did not wait for world to be perfect before he sent Jesus

God sent His Son into a world very much like ours today — it was full of war, feuds, uncertainty, etc. God did not wait for the world to be perfect before He sent His Son to save us. He sent His Son because He loves us.

A sign to the shepherds

Luke 2:12 And this [will be] the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

The Hebrew word translated into English as “manger” is the Greek transliterated as phatne or fatna which in the Middle East has the meaning a of feeding trough for animals, made of stone. The root word is pateomai which means, to eat.

Jesus Christ came to be “eaten” by us. The shepherds understood such a sign in Luke 2:12.

We are not to merely copy and emulate Jesus. Only when we feed on Jesus can we have the strength to overcome, etc.

You are what you eat. Jesus came to humanity so that we could “feed” on Him and He can become part of us – [Editor: our physical and spiritual composition].

Baby Jesus was also wrapped in swaddling cloths. In a sense, these are cloths similar to those used to bury the dead. Indeed Jesus was wrapped in a linen cloth for burial after the Cross. We see in this the sign from Luke 2:12 that Jesus was born to die for us!

No room at the inn

Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

In the Greek, the reference to “inn” is prefaced by the definite article. In other words, there was a specific known inn in Bethlehem which Joseph and Mary came to and in which there was no room for them.

What was this specific known inn in Bethlehem?

Jer 41:17 And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, as they went on their way to Egypt

Here in Jer 41:17 some fugitives are recorded to have dwelt in the “habitation” of Chimham (the Hebrew transliteration is kimham) which is near Bethlehem.

The Hebrew word translated into “habitation” is the Hebrew word ( Strong’s 1628 ) transliterated as geruwth or garuth.

Geruwth is used only once in the OT and its only appearance is in Jer 41:17. [Editor: We can thus make a reasonable proposition here that the "habitation" of Chimhan in Jer 41:17 was the very same inn in the NT where Jesus was born because it appears that a very specific "habitation" or temporary sojourning place i.e. inn is intimated here in Jer 41:17].

Geruwth means: (1) lodging place; or (2) temporary sojourning place.

Its root word is guwr (Strong’s 1481) which means to sojourn, dwell for a time, temporarily dwell.

Guwr was used in Gen 12:10 “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn [guwr] there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.”

How did Chimham get this inn?

2 Samuel 19

V36 “Your servant will go a little way across the Jordan with the king. And why should the king repay me [with] such a reward?

V37 Please let your servant turn back again, that I may die in my own city, near the grave of my father and mother. But here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what seems good to you.”

V38 And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what seems good to you. Now whatever you request of me, I will do for you.”

V39 Then all the people went over the Jordan. And when the king had crossed over, the king kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his own place.

Barzillai (a Gileadite, non-jew) had given assistance to David during the time of Absalom’s rebellion. As a result, David wanted to bring Barzillai to Jerusalem where he could reward him by providing for Barzillai in the royal palace. Barzillai turned down the request and requested for David to take care of Chimham instead.

[Editor: Chimham was "a follower and probably a son of Barzillai the Gileadite who returned from beyond Jordan with David; apparently David bestowed on him a possession in Bethlehem on which in later times an inn was standing" - http://www.blueletterbible.org ]

It is therefore highly probable that David gave his family property in Bethlehem to Chimham in gratefulness to Barzillai. It is probable that David no longer had use of this family property because he and his family now resided as royalty in Jerusalem. This family property probably was owned by David’s father, Jesse, and it can probably be traced all the way to Boaz and probably beyond, to the time when the tribe of Judah first settled the land. The family property had been in David’s family for generations.

When Chimham died, he left no descendants, and it was the practice of the time for such an individual to have his house turned into a monument — this became the inn of Bethlehem.

In other words, the specific known inn (Luke 2:7) of Bethlehem was probably the Chimham habitation (Jer 41:17) which was in turn actually David’s family property to begin with! The true King — Jesus Christ, had no place in his own house (as Jesus was the legal descendent of David and the Davidic family had ‘title’ or claim over the inn).

[Editor: Jesus really went through a lot for us. No room in his own house at Bethlehem, so that we can have homes of our own on earth, and mansions in heaven. The divine exchange. Amen!]

Feast of Tabernacles

There was no room at the inn in Bethlehem because the town was flooded with visitors from other parts of Israel visiting Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles which took place around the time of Jesus’ birth.

We have a clue that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles from the book of John.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:2 He was in the beginning with God.

John 1:3 All things were made through Him [i.e. The Word], and without Him nothing was made that was made.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Greek word translated as “dwelt” in John 1:14 can be understood as “tabernacled” thus alluding to the Feast of Tabernacles.

All things were made through the Word (Jesus). Thus if anything goes wrong in your body, finances, family, etc, His Word can restore it as everything was made by His Word.

God is our medicine. He is health to ALL our flesh (Proverbs 4:22) i.e. unlike conventional medicine, there are no side-effects with God’s Word.

Zechariah’s Prophecy

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, gave a wonderful prophecy in Luke 1 concerning the birth of Jesus Christ. Zechariah means in Hebrew, Yahweh (YHWH) or the Lord remembers. In prophesying the future about Christ’s birth, he is indeed prophesying about how God remembers and is sending Jesus!

Luke 1:68 “Blessed [is] the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people,

Luke 1:69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David,

Luke 1:70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who [have been] since the world began,

Luke 1:71 That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us,

Luke 1:72 To perform the mercy [promised] to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant,

Luke 1:73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:

Luke 1:74 To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,

Luke 1:75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

In Luke 1:71, we are told the good news that Jesus will save us from our enemies. What are our enemies? Anything that brings death, disease, destruction, etc.

In Luke 1:74, we are told the good news that Jesus will deliver us from our enemies and we can then serve Him “without fear”.

This is no a slavish fear. Indeed Jesus defined “fear” of God in the Wilderness Temptation as “worship” (Matt 4:10) of God when he paraphrased the OT scripture (Deu 6:13) and replaced “fear” with “worship”.

Whatever people fear, they will ultimately hate. Therefore don’t cause your kids or co-workers to fear you.

God wants us to enjoy Him without fear.

The New Man is created Righteous

Eph 4:24 ….. and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

When you receive Christ as saviour, you already become a new man who is created righteous and in true holiness! You don’t need to try. You simply are!

You are righteousness and holy now, apart from your actions.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

God the Father sent Jesus to us NOT to condemn but to save us! This is the Christmas Story!

Friends, believe in Jesus and His grace and you shall have the power to change and overcome.

Remember the words of Jesus at the Cross, “It is FINISHED”.

Jesus has done a COMPLETE redeeming work.

Jesus was buried in a tomb very similar to the manger in which he was born.

Thus, reflecting back to Luke 2, it is so evident to the shepherds and to all who would hear, that this baby Jesus was a sign. A sign that he was born to die. To die so that He would save us from our sins! Amen! The Grace of God!

There was no room at the inn in Bethlehem for the Son of God so that there would be abundance of room for love, warmth, shelter, family, etc for us. The year 2009 will be bright! Bright as His promises!

********

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: THE ABOVE NOTES WERE DRAFTED BY, DEVELOPED, COMPILED AND ORGANISED BY YEO CHOON MENG TERENCE IN HIS PERSONAL CAPACITY ON 4 JANUARY 2009 AND THEY ARE NOT REPRESENTATIONS OF, ATTRIBUTABLE TO OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH NEW CREATION CHURCH OR JOSEPH PRINCE MINISTRIES