FROM THE CRADLE TO THE CROSS – Pt 1

Luke 2:10-11 “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

This Christmas seems to be no different than most every other Christmas except I am not a pastor anymore. In the past I have been very involved in most of the church activities at this time of the year. And frankly, I was always worn out after the Christmas program, parties, luncheons and musicals. As a retired pastor (I didn’t say over the hill) I am able to enjoy these different functions without the work which have and will be done before this Christmas season is over.

Every year I have tried to keep my focus on the most important thing about Christmas and that is the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I trust each of you will do the same thing this year.

As I think about the birth of the Christ child, I think about why He came to this earth. The reality of His purpose was that He came to start a journey. For the next three weeks I would like for us to follow that journey and remember again why He came to this earth.

1. Notice first of all THE MIND OF SOVEREIGNTY

The birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was no afterthought with God. From the beginning it was part of God’s plan. Even before God created the universe, His plan included the birth of the Christ child. In fact, even before man’s spiritual fall in the Garden of Eden, this birth was planned so that fallen man might be redeemed.

God knew that mankind would need a Savior and planned from the very beginning that the sinless Lamb of God would one day come to this earth, be born in a manger and make the journey to the cross of Calvary. Man’s redemption depended on it.

In writing about the Messiah who had come, Peter penned in I Peter 1:20 “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, . . .”

As I emphasized earlier, the birth of Christ was part of God’s plan from the beginning. Paul wrote it this way in Romans 3:25 “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”

After Eve had fallen prey to the temptation of the serpent and Adam made a choice to disobey God’s command, God made a promise that one day One would come that would make a way for us to be reconciled to Him. That prophecy was first made in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

I’m glad that God had a plan! Aren’t you glad that the plan of God included our salvation? This plan did not come about when man sinned. It was already in place from eternity past. Notice what Paul wrote in II Timothy 1:9-10 “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, . . .”

God had a plan!

2. Notice secondly THE MANGER OF SUBMISSION

The plan of our redemption was that someone would come to this earth and make a journey to the cross of Calvary. Someone had to die for the sin of mankind. Jesus was that One. We read in Matthew 20:28, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

You might think that God’s Son would be born in a palace or at least a fancy house or hotel in the city of Jerusalem, the city of kings. But Jesus was not born in royalty but in a lowly manger in the city of Bethlehem. That was God’s plan and Jesus was submitted to that plan. Whatever the plan of God contained, Jesus was surrendered to it. We read in Jesus’ own words in John 5:30 “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

Jesus was willing to surrender His will to the will of the Father so that plan could be carried out. I wonder how many of us have surrendered our will to the will of the Father. What part of God’s will for our life have we had a hard time accepting? Are we willing to do whatever God has for us?

I remember when I was in Bible College and was confronted with whether or not God wanted me to be a missionary. I was willing to go as long as it didn’t include Africa. I didn’t want to even hear of the possibility of Africa. They have snakes; big snakes; scarey snakes. I was a music major and surely God wouldn’t want me to waste my training in the jungles of Africa, where they have snakes. . .

I did come to the place in my life where I was willing to do anything God wanted me to do and He ended up sending me to Florida where they have alligators.

Bethlehem was part of God’s salvation plan. The lowly manger was to be the place where Jesus’ earthly journey would start. But it would not end in that little manger in Bethlehem. There would be disappointments, hardships, rejections and even betrayal. That was the mission of Jesus. That’s why He came. He came to do the will of the Father, and it started in Bethlehem.

This is the Christmas season. We celebrate the birth of the Christ Child. Let us who know Christ personally in salvation not forget why He came to this earth. Let’s make this a Christ-centered celebration.

In next week’s “Challenging Concepts” I will give some more thoughts about the journey of Jesus FROM THE CRADLE TO THE CROSS.

That’s my view; how about you!