Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Deity in Diapers Msg 320 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

Transcript

Deity in Diapers Msg 320 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: The birth of Jesus was an extraordinary event in human history.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: God became a man without ceasing to be the one
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: and only God. Amazing thing. Very few in Israel's well-educated
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: could see beyond those humble circumstances of Jesus' birth to
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: appreciate the immense implications. Ironically, Israel's outcast and forgotten people
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: were far more apt to recognize the truth. The story
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: of this advent is found in the Gospel by Luke,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: his second chapter, verses 1 through 7. So if you
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: have a Bible handy, please turn with me to Luke
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: chapter 2, and I'll begin reading at verse 1. Now
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: This was the first census taken while Quirinius was the
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: governor of Syria, and all were proceeding to register for
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the census, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: he was of the house of and family of David,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: to him and was with child. While they were there,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: the days were completed for her to give birth. And
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: she gave birth to her firstborn son. And she wrapped
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: him in cloths and laid him in a manger, because
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: there was no room for them in the inn. Now,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: several years after the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: the Apostle Paul encouraged all the Christians living in Philippi
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: to imitate the sacrifice that Christ had made when he
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: set aside the privileges of deity to become humanity. Eugene
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Peterson's wonderful rendering in the message captures the spirit of
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Paul's instructions. So listen carefully as I read Philippians 2,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: 5 through 8 from the message. Think of yourselves the
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: with God, but didn't think so much of himself that
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: he had to cling to the advantages of that status,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: no matter what, not at all. When the time came,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: he set aside the privileges of deity and took on
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: the status of a slave, became human. Having become human,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and then died a selfless, obedient death, and the worst
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: kind of death at that, a crucifixion. Christmas always brings
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: great stories to mind, and, uh, Today, I want to
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: start with a great story that's true and end with
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: another true story that I've thought about as the Christmas
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: season has arrived. Go back with me to the year 1943,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Christmas Day. For some of you, that sounds like ancient history.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: For others of us, we remember as little children being
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: caught in the middle of an enormous war that had
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: our nation on its knees. It's obvious at that time,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: as I recall, that the war was escalating and not
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: decreasing and our worry list was probably longer than our
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: prayer list as Americans. On Christmas Day, this particular bombing
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: mission was to take place over Germany. War has a
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: way of overlooking holidays. And this particular flying crew in
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: this squadron had flown so many missions together they had
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: begun to feel like a family. But they were worried
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: because this particular mission would take them over a heavily
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: fortified area in the inward part of Europe, in fact,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: right near the border of Germany. The chaplain realized that
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: the anxiety level was so great, he probably should fly
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: on this particular plane, the old flying fortress of the
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Second World War. And so he climbed aboard with the crew,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: and as they took off, he reminded them this was
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Christmas Day, and he prayed. The crew was a pretty
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: hardened group of young airmen and sailors, They passed it
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: off as another prayer and they got over enemy territory
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: and before long, as expected, German airships swarmed this particular bomber.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: And even before they got to their destination where they
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: would unload the bombs, heavy aircraft came. Anti-aircraft shells came
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: from below and began to explode around them. They were
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: bouncing around in the sky and Every gunner in this
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: particular flying fortress was literally fighting for his life. The
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: chaplain looked over the crew and realized it was time
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: to reassure them, and he grabbed the intercom again and
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: he said, Man, I want to remind you that all
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: of us are surrounded by the presence of God. He
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: will protect us this day. He is on board this aircraft,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: and he will see us through this mission today. as
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: he has seen us through all the other missions we
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: have flown together. A brief pause in the flight occurred.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: The fighting let back for a few seconds, and the
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: tail gunner way back on the other end of the
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: plane grabbed the same intercom and said, Well, chaplain, God
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: may be up there near the cockpit with you guys,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: but he sure ain't back here in the tail of
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: this thing. And all of a sudden, an explosion occurred.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: just outside his turret. And then, though it didn't explode,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: a shell blew through the fuselage of that plane, leaving
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: a gaping hole below where it came in and above
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: where it went out. The tail gunner grabbed the intercom
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: again and said, correction, chaplain, God just walked in. May
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: sound like just another war story, but it reminded me
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: as I read that true story of Christmas. It's easy
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: to think that the world into which God just walked
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: into was a world at peace with itself. I mean,
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: after all, we do sing, O little town of Bethlehem,
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: how still we see thee lie. And that most beloved
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: of all the carols, silent night, holy night, all is calm,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: all is bright. No, not really. No, there was nothing
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: calm and there was nothing bright. about the world into
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: which the Lord Jesus entered as a little baby. As
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: a matter of fact, it was not a still and
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: sleepy Bethlehem into which he came. The world was in turmoil.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: A madman named Caesar, who had the audacity to add
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: to his name Augustus, was ruling the throne in Rome.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: In fact, to him, the Jews who lived in that
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: little finger of land named Palestine were sort of pawns
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: on a chessboard to push around as he pleased. Furthermore,
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: the world was in sort of an uproar because he
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: had demanded a fresh run of taxes. And so people
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: were moving back to their home countries. where they might
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: re-register because this new census was being taken so that
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: the Roman Empire might receive even more money from the
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: citizens of the empire. Economically, it was threatening, especially for
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: the Jews. Chuck Colson writes in a book named Kingdoms
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: in Conflict, 2,000 years ago, Palestine was as it is today.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: a land in turmoil, its two and a half million
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: inhabitants bitterly divided by religious, cultural, and language barriers. Now
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: imagine the scene. An unlikely mix of Jews, Greeks, and
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Syrians populated the coastal towns and fertile valleys of the
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: ancient land of Palestine. and tensions among them often erupted
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: in bloody clashes. Rome did little to discourage this volatile bitterness.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: As long as the people's passions were spent on each other,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: they weren't being vented on their own conquerors. Among this
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: disparate group, the Jews alone had hope for the future,
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: for they clung to the promise that a Messiah would
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: soon come sent from God and would set them free.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Now then from that scene imagine yourself sitting among a
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: pocket of shepherds on the outskirts of Bethlehem You've heard
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: the prophet's words. You remember those terms that he used.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: Isaiah from his courtly setting. Unto you a child is born,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: a son is given, and his name will be called
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: a wonder of a counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: of Peace. Those words must have seemed hollow and irrelevant
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: to a group of shepherds watching over their flocks at night.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: about as empty as the prayers of a chaplain sitting
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: in the front end of a flying fortress, almost being
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: shot out of the sky. Or the other words, a
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: virgin will conceive and bear a son, and you will
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: call his name Emmanuel, God with us. Can't you just
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: hear the shepherds as they, with curled lips, answered back, Oh, Isaiah,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: you dreamer. If you could only enter this real world,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: you'd realize that God is a long ways away from here.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, the sky exploded with light.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, there was a word from
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: the angel of the Lord who said, fear not. That's
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: always made me smile. Here are these shepherds sitting alone
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: telling shepherd stories. And the sky is ablaze and there
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: are these angels that appear. And the first words are,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: don't worry. Yeah, right. We wouldn't worry, would we, if
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: we were sitting among the shepherds. Fear not, for behold,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: be to all the people. For unto you is born
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: this very day in the city of David a Savior
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: who is Christ the Lord. She has called his name Jesus,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: God with a Savior. And I think that same shepherd
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: that had earlier thought, Isaiah, you're a million miles away
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: from reality, must have thought, God just walked in. Here
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: he is. And within a matter of minutes, they found
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: themselves beneath the star and in the stable looking into
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: the face of deity in diapers. My Bible is open
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: to Luke chapter 2 that is so familiar to all
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: of us, our lips move when someone reads the story.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: We've heard this story since we were little children sitting
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: in our family rooms as our moms and dads read
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: the story to us. Christmas was never complete in our
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: home without the reading of Luke chapter 2. It came
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: about in those days. We've just heard about those days.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Days of economic turmoil, days of political intrigue, days of
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: assassinations and volatile terrorist plots by the zealots of the Jews.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: In those days, not a little sleepy town of Bethlehem,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: not when everything was calm and peaceful, but in those
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: days when all hell was breaking loose on top of
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: everything else. This Caesar, Augustus, says that there has to
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: be another census, and that means that you who live
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: in Nazareth, who find your heritage in Bethlehem, need to
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: make that 90-mile trek. And in this particular case, this
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: young couple found it necessary, even though she was heavy
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: with child, to make that journey along that north-to-south route
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: down to the town of Bethlehem. All were proceeding to
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: register for the census, everyone to his own city. It's
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: easy to read that and forget that that's a rather
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: maddening setting. Some people are going north to south. Some
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: are going south to north. Some are going east to west.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Some west to east. Some are getting out of the land.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Some are coming into the land that didn't live in
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: that area. They were moving all about. It was a
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: time above evil and turmoil and there was Literally no
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: place to stay. People must have been sleeping in the
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: alleys and along the gutters and everywhere they could. But
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: here was this young couple, Mary and Joseph, knowing in
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: their hearts something no one else would have even imagined,
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: that she was in fact carrying the one Isaiah had
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: prophesied would come. She had God in her womb, if
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: you will. Joseph went up from Galilee, up in terrain
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: but down in direction, from the city of Nazareth down
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: to Judea to the city of David called Bethlehem because
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: that's where his family roots were. He was of the
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: house and the family of David to register. That's why
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: they went. I would imagine Joseph and Mary talked about
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: this before the journey. Is it necessary that I go
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: with you? Yes, I think you should go. You may
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: deliver while I'm gone. I don't want you to have
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: that baby while I'm not around. Young mothers and dads-to-be
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: talk about things like that all the time. Guys want
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: to go hunting? The wife's going to have a baby
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: in a few hours. He probably says to her in
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: a weak moment, I think I can get the kill
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: and be back in time. Guys have done that, you know. Or,
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: you know, I got to make this great sale and
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: you give me a call. I got my cell phone ready.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: But in those days, there weren't cell phones. In those days,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: that kind of stuff wasn't available. So I'm sure Joseph
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: said to Mary, look, we've got to travel together. You
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: come along with me. Isn't it great, however, that the
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: prophet Micah had said it will be in Bethlehem, and
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: they lived in Nazareth. And if it hadn't been for
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Caesar Augustus' determination that a census would be taken, they
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: would have never gotten down to Bethlehem. But that was
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: all part of the perfect plan called the prophecy in
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: the scriptures. Caesar Augustus thought he was the big deal
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: running things. He was a piece of lint on the
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: page of prophecy. Get him off out of the way.
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: All he's doing is running the errand of God. Of
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: course they're going to be in Bethlehem. That's exactly where
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Micah said that this baby would be born. Bethlehem. You
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: think Nazareth is a bad spot. Bethlehem, I mean, have
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: you been there lately? I mean, it's not one of
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: the great lights in the world. And it wasn't then.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: It was in sort of the off-scouring of Jerusalem, one
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: of those little towns outside the main place. Kind of
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: like Frisco is to Dallas. You knew I was going
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: to say that when I got there. Bethlehem, just another
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: country town. But this is where the action was going
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: to happen. And Mary and Joseph, exactly as the father
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: had planned it, made their way to the town. And
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: it was there that the days were completed for her
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: to give birth. Hold on here and go back to
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: that passage we looked at last time. John chapter 2.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: You really do need to go. John chapter 1. You
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: really do need to turn back. Now, the reason I
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: want you to do that is because when you get
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: to John 1, in our terms, you find he sort
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: of cuts to the chase. John is writing about Jesus
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: as the Son of God, so you don't read any genealogy.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: God has no genealogy. You don't read anything about a
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: human birth. God has no birth. As we learned last time,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: in a beginning which really never had a beginning, eternally
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: existed Lagos, John's favorite nickname for Jesus. Eternally existed the Word,
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: and the Word was with God, and the Word, Lagos,
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: was in fact deity. The same was in the beginning
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: with God. Verse 14, John 1. And the Lagos became... Now,
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: I know you've heard it half your life, but just
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: for a moment, give yourself the opportunity for a surprise.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Imagine having never read this before, and some listening to
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: me right now may never have read it before. The
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: one who has eternally been with the Father and the Spirit,
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: a fellow member of the Godhead, the second member of
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: the Trinity, Existing eternally in the past. As creator. Lord.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: And soon to be savior of the world. Now. Is
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: reduced to. This infinitesimal. Size. Of an egg. No genealogy.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: No earthly birth mentioned. But now God. God. is planted
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: in that womb of a woman who never has known
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: a man intimately and begins to grow during that nine-month
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: period when the embryo becomes a fetus and the fetus
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: is soon to be a crying baby. existing in a
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: crib called a manger, which is a feeding trough in
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: this backwoods town of Bethlehem. A member of the Trinity
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: blinks human eyes and cries in a crib, and of
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: all things must learn how to walk and talk and
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: control his bladder. This little infant born who once held
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: the universe in place is now dependent upon his mother's
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: milk to survive. Just imagine that. These thoughts kind of
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: race past our minds because we all know the story
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: so well but it is easy to forget what they represent.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: This is the most mysterious of all miracles. God now
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: with a body who deliberately empties himself of all the
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: voluntary use of his divine attributes and is dependent upon
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: the Father for these 33 and a half years journey
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: when he pitches his tent on earth. There's an enormous amount,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: not only amount of theology, but mind-boggling truth in that mystery.
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: Do you realize that John wrote his gospel after Paul
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: was converted? Do you realize that John the Apostle, who
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: was no doubt among the closest of Jesus' earthly friends,
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: do you realize that he had spent years thinking about
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: what he would write while Paul was converted, began his
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: missionary journey, and in fact had been beheaded and was
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: dead before John took up pen to write? So it
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: seems appropriate that we listen to what Paul said in
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: the meantime. Hold on here and go to Philippians chapter 2.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: It's really worth the look. Philippians chapter 2, in my opinion,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: one of the finest, clearest, and succinct sections on the
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: coming of the Lord Jesus to this earth. This passage
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: was read for us a few moments ago, so there's
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: no reason to read it again. But listen to the
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: New International Version as it renders the same words you
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: heard read earlier. Christ Jesus, being in very nature God,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: You got that? He is with the Father, the Father,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, the Son, working together on the salvation
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: plan for this earth. And the Son, realizing that it
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: would be his role to come to this earth, did
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: not regard his position of authority and power, his role
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: as creator and master of this earth, something to be
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: held on to. It's a silly illustration by comparison, but
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: it's as though you are the CEO of one of
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: the largest corporations in the world. And you willingly say
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: to the board, I'll step away from this role and
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: for the next 33 years, I'll happily become a custodian
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: for the organization. In fact, I I'll be happy to
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: be in the lowest position we have for the next
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: number of decades. That's exactly what Jesus is saying. Or
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: what Paul is saying of Jesus. Did not consider his
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: role as equal with God something to be grasped. Now
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: look at the process. But made himself nothing. Taking the
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: very nature of a servant. being made in human likeness.
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: This has never happened before, and it will never happen again.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: This is the unique God-man. Theologians call him the theanthropic person, theos, anthropos,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: put together in one. God-man in one, in the womb
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: of Mary, who is this amazed teenage Jewess living in Nazareth,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: listening to the angel telling her, you're going to bear
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the Christ child. Joseph had nothing to do with this conception.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: For the first and only time in all of time,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: a virgin conceives without ever knowing a man. Amen. Let
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: me show you how specific scripture is. I love this
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: little comment that I want to share with you from Matthew.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Hold on here. You're now holding on to three other passages.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: So hold on to Philippians chapter 2 and look at
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter 1. This is great. Matthew 1 traces the
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: genealogy because Matthew is tracing the genealogy of a king.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: But look at Matthew 1, and I'm going to show
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: you just a little example of the power of one
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: word in the scriptures. We've got all this genealogy, verse 1,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David,
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: son of Abraham, go all the way down to verse 16. Okay? Okay?
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: And to Jacob was born Joseph. Not called the father
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: of Jesus because he wasn't. What's he called? The husband
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: of Mary because he was. Now look, by whom? Jesus,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: that refers to Jesus. By whom? That refers to Mary.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: By whom was born Jesus? See the word whom? It's
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: singular feminine. Isn't that great? Only a guy that loves
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: the scriptures could say that little word is great. It
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: is wonderful. Not of both of them, but of her alone.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Singular feminine. Of Mary alone was born Jesus. I used
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: to teach a Bible class in North Dallas back in
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: the very early 1960s and 60s. One of the ladies
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: in the class said to me one Monday morning, she said, Chuck,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: I just want to know why that virgin conception of Jesus,
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: is that important? She said, I really know it's got
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: some importance, but I want to know why. She said,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: I asked my, she named a particular minister at the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: church where she was attending. And he said, ah, that's
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: not important. Who's worried about the sex life of Mary?
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: Who concerns himself with the sex life of Mary? And
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: she said, should I be concerned about the sex life
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: of Mary? I said, you better believe it. You better
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: believe you ought to be concerned about it. God's so concerned,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: he limits it all to one feminine singular statement right
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: here in the middle of the genealogy. Now back to
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Philippians 2, of whom was born Jesus. Now, he emptied himself,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: taking the form of a bondservant, verse 7, and being
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: made in the likeness of men. Amazing, huh? And being
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: became obedient even to a cross kind of death. The
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: one who had power over death submitted himself to that power.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: The one who could command a legion of angels to
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: come to his rescue doesn't. And submits himself to others
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: as a common slave. I've always liked the way Eugene Peterson,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: in his paraphrase called The Message, handles this section. He
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: had equal status with God, but didn't think so much
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: of himself that he had to cling to the advantages
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: of that status, no matter what, not at all. When
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: and took on the status of a slave. He became human.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: And the worst kind of death at that, crucifixion. Look
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: at your Bibles. Philippians 2, verse 6 says, he existed.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: Verse 7, he emptied. Verse 8, he humbled himself. and
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: verse 8 he died that's the story of Jesus he
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: existed as God he emptied himself as he became a
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: man he humbled himself and And he died. You see,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Paul didn't believe that early in life. And on his
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: road to Damascus, he dropped to his knees. And the
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Lord directed his words to Paul, who was then Saul,
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: the Pharisee. And he said to him, why do you
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: persecute me? And you know what happened to Saul? God
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: just walked in. God just walked in. And he was
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: never the same. God just exploded in his mind. And
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: Saul realized he had missed it by a lifetime. That
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: this one whom he was persecuting was in fact the
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: son of God. Now, backtrack to Luke chapter 2. We
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: were there earlier. We come back to the stable. This
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: is a great setting. While they were there, verse 6,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: the days were completed for her to give birth. And
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: in cloths and laid him in a feeding trough, called
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: by us a manger, because there was no room for
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: them in the inn. Philip Keller, in his fine work
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: entitled simply Rabboni, writes of this stable, The sheep corral,
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: filthy as only an eastern animal enclosure can be, reeked
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: pungently with manure and urine accumulated across the seasons. Joseph
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: cleared a corner just large enough for Mary to lie down,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Birth pains had started. She writhed in agony. On the ground, Joseph,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: in his inexperienced and unknowing manly manner, did his best
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: to reassure her. His own outer tunic would be her bed,
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: his rough saddlebag her pillow. Hay, straw, or other animal
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: fodder was non-existent. This was not hay or grain growing
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: country stock barely survived by grazing on the sparse vegetation
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: that sprang from that semi-desert terrain. Mary moaned and groaned
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: in the darkness of the sheep shelter. Joseph swept away
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: the dust and dirt from a small space in one
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: of the hand-hewn mangers carved from soft limestone rock. He
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: arranged a place where Mary could lay the newborn babe
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: all bundled up in the clothes she had brought along
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: and there alone unaided. Without strangers or friends to witness
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: her ordeal in the darkness, she delivered her son, Isn't
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: that great? I never will get over the amazement of
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: this birth. Joseph is wringing his hands wondering what he
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: can do and here she is helping herself give birth.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: It was the unpretentious entrance, the stage entrance of the
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Son of Man, the Son of God. Very God in
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: human form on earth's stage. And God just walked in.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: He just walked right in. No blaring of trumpets, no
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: white stallions, no swords and spears flashing, no grand comfortable
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: scene in a palace with comfort and But in a
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: filthy stable, God just gushed his way through the birth
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: canal and was born a little baby. I have both
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: women and men hearing me today, and I want to
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: speak to both of you as I close my talk. First,
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: the women. Especially you women who have given birth. You
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: knew I would come to this moment, didn't you? Just
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: remember you're first born. You too were inexperienced. You didn't
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: know what you would go through. It's easy to forget
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: the pain of it once that little baby comes into
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: your arms and the joys begin to follow. Can you
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: imagine looking into the face of God in infant form?
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: I mean, how would you hold him? How would you
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: teach him? We have Max Lucado to thank for 25
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: questions for Mary. I've picked just a few of them,
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: as only my friend Max Lucado knows. can ask them.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: These are questions he has for Mary. What was it
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: like watching him pray? How did he respond when he
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: saw other kids giggling during the service at the synagogue?
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: the world? When he saw a lamb being led to
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: slaughter Did he act differently? Did you ever see him
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: with a distant look in his face as if he
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: were listening to someone you could not hear? Did it
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: ever occur to you that the God to whom you
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: were praying was asleep under your own roof? Did he
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: ever come home with a black eye? How did he
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: act when he got his first haircut? Did he have
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: any friends by the name of Judas? Did he do
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: well in school? Did you ever scold him? Did he
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: ever have to ask a question about the scriptures? Did
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: he ever get angry when someone was dishonest with him?
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: Did he ever wake up afraid? When someone referred to Satan,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: how did he act? Did you ever accidentally call him Lord?
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: Did you ever think God is eating my soup? A
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: lot to think about, ladies, when you think about your
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: own firstborn as compared to this firstborn. What an unusual
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: moment was Mary's. No other woman on earth would ever
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: know it. Not even Joseph understood it. He accepted it.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: But only she pondered all these things in her heart.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: And now for the men. Where are you in the story?
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: We could be several places, couldn't we, men? We could
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: be among the shepherds sitting out on that windswept hill
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: watching over our flocks and suddenly seeing the sky ablaze
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: with light and hearing the antiphonal voices of the angels.
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Glory to God in the highest and on earth. Peace
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: among men of goodwill. We could be among the shepherds
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: Or put yourself in the sandals of Joseph being told
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: by your now pregnant fiancé that it is from God.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: How would you respond? Just like Joseph, if that well was.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: But you know, there's a person that is often unmentioned
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: in the story. He's never named here in legend, yes,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: but never in the scriptures. And he is seldom referred
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: to even in sermons about that first arrival of the
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus. And I have in mind the innkeeper. Ever
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: thought about the innkeeper? He just mentioned in passing, verse 7,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: they laid him in a manger because there was no
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: room for them in the inn. Amen. Had you been
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: the innkeeper, busy about your work, doing what you were
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: paid to do, dealing with the public, overrun with people,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: would you have had the sense to realize that this
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: couple was special? Probably not. You and I in our work, men,
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: are often so preoccupied with the work to be done,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: we are often insensitive to the moment when God is
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: trying to step in. That's probably why I love this
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: story I want to end with so much. I told
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: you I would start with a story, and now I
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: end with one that will be of interest even to
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: the children among us, because this is about a child.
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: For years now, whenever Christmas pageants are talked about in
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: a certain little town in the Midwest, someone is sure
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: to mention the name Wallace Pureling. Wally's performance in one
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: annual production of the Nativity play has slipped into the
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: realm of legend. But the old-timers who were in the
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: audience that night never tire of recalling exactly what happened.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: Wally was nine that year and in the second grade.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Though he should have been in the fourth, most people
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: in town knew that he had difficulty keeping up. He
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: was big and clumsy, slow of movement and mind. But
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: Wally was well-liked by the other children in his class,
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: all of whom were smaller than he, though the boys
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: had trouble hiding their irritation if the uncoordinated Wally asked
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: to play ball with them. Most often, they'd find a
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: way to keep him off the field. But Wally would
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: hang around anyway, not sulking, just hoping. He was always
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: a helpful boy, willing, smiling, and the natural protector of
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: the underdog. Sometimes if the older boys chased the younger
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: boys away, it would be Wally who would say, hey,
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: can't they stay? They're no bother. Wally fancied the idea
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: of being a shepherd with a flute in the Christmas
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: pageant that year, but the play's director, Miss Lombard, assigned
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: him to a more important role. After all, She reasoned
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: the innkeeper did not have too many lines, and Wally's
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: size would make his refusal of lodging to Joseph more forceful.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: And so it happened that the usual large partisan audience
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: gathered for the town's yuletide extravaganza of staffs and beards
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: and crowns and halos and a whole stage full of
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: squeaky voices— No one on stage or off was more
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: caught up in the magic of the night than Wallace Pearling.
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: They said later that he stood in the wings and
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: watched the performance with such fascination that from time to time,
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: Miss Lombard had to make sure he wouldn't wander on
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: stage before his cue. Then time came when Joseph appeared slowly,
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: tenderly guiding Mary to the door of the inn. Joseph
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: knocked hard on On the wooden door set into the
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: painted backdrop, Wally the innkeeper was there waiting. What do
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: you want? Wally said, swinging the door open with a
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: brusque gesture. We seek lodging. Well, seek it elsewhere. Wally
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: looked straight ahead, spoke vigorously. My inn is filled. Sir,
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: we've asked everywhere in vain. We have traveled far and
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: we're very weary. There's just no room anywhere else. Well,
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: there's no room in this inn for you. Wally looked
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: properly stern. Please, good innkeeper, this is my wife, Mary.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: She's heavy with child and needs a place to rest.
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: Surely you must have some small corner for her. She's
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: so tired. Now for the first time, The innkeeper relaxed
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: his stiff stance and looked down at Mary. With that,
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: there was a long pause, long enough to make the
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: audience a bit tense and embarrassed. The prompter whispered, no,
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: be gone. No, while he repeated automatically, be gone. Joseph
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: sadly placed his arm around Mary and Mary laid her
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: head tenderly on Joseph's shoulder. as the two of them
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: started to move away. The innkeeper did not return inside
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: his inn, as he should have, however. Wally stood in
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: the doorway, watching the forlorn couple, his mouth wide open,
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: his brow creased with genuine concern, his eyes filling unmistakably
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: with tears. Don't go! Don't go! said Wally out loud.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: Don't go, Joseph! Bring Mary back! You can have my
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: room in the end. Some people in town thought that
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: the pageant had been ruined. Yet there were many others
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: who considered it the most Christmas of all Christmas pageants
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: that they had ever seen. There's just something that happens
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: when God walks in and you forget your lines. And
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: you forget your hatred. And you forget all those bundle
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: up grudges and scars and pain of your past. And
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: you just say, come on in. Come on in. I'd
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: like us to bow our heads so we can let
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: him in. Just close your eyes. Close your eyes. For
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: just a few moments, please. There's something wonderful about Christmas.
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: There's something wonderful about the arrival of God. Very God
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: is a little helpless baby who wouldn't want to give
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: him a place in their hearts. If you've never done that,
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: this is the perfect moment. Sitting in this unusual place,
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: perhaps among people you've never been around before. And for
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: some reason you were strangely drawn to this gathering only
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: to find out in a few moments time that joy
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: really has come to this world. Because the Lord has come.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: And that there really is now a place in your
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: hearts for him whom for whatever reason you've resisted over
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: the years. I invite you at this very moment, just
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: sitting where you're sitting, to offer the simple prayer, Lord
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, I've turned you away long enough. Come into
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: my life. I believe you died for me on that cross,
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: and I believe you rose from the dead for me,
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: and you live willing to take me and forgive me
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: and give me a place in your house forever. In
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: this quiet moment, our Father, perhaps quieter than any place
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: we could find at this time of the year in
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: our city, we pause to acknowledge your Son, his very God.
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: As the Savior of our lives and the Lord of
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: our times, thank you for the sweet spirit and presence
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: that he brings and fills as he comes into this place.
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you for what he means to us in his
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: model of coming and giving up all of those privileges.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: We live in such a selfish world and such a
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: demanding time. We need models like him to pattern our
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: lives after. Thank you, Father, for your plan to rescue
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: us from the filth of our lives and bringing him
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: to a place like this Thank you that he paid
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: the penalty that we should have paid, and he took
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: the debt that we had created, and he paid it.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: it in full. Minister, our Father, even when this message
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: ends to those who wrestle with this decision to turn
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: their lives over to Christ, woo them and win them
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: to yourself, our Father. And now may the grace of
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: our Lord Jesus and the fellowship of the saints and
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: the blessed work of the Holy Spirit abide with us.
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: And unto him who is able to guard us from
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: stumbling and present us faultless before the presence of his
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Savior,
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: We ask it in the name of Jesus, our Lord.
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: And everyone said, Amen.
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, Deity in Diapers, was copyrighted in 1998, 1999, 2007,
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: and 2023. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2023
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: by Charles R.
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: In the preceding message, Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: Is grateful to Guidepost Magazine for the article, Trouble at
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: the Inn, by Dina Donahue from Guidepost's Treasured Stories of Christmas,
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 1997.