Transition:
C. THERE IS A SOOTHING DECLARATION 10
the angel= the supernatural messenger!! An explanation of the phenomena. An eternal perspective.
Explication: I bring you good tidings of great joy= word from which we get evanglize, evangelism, transliterated ino English. Means to tell the good news, to announce the story of Jesus, i.e., the gospel. See Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Explication: The message of Christmas=the gospel of Christ. "God and sinner reconciled" Your God reigns!!!! This soothes us, comforts us, excites us to share this gospel with others.
Christmas is the greatest opportunity to witness to this downward visitation of salvation.
Transition: Now to the second way the Visitation Of Salvation is depicted:
II. IT IS DEPICTED BY A PURPOSE THAT IS MANWARD 11, 12
A. THE SPECIAL PLACE 11
City of David
Explication: The interpretation of the revelation. God does not leave His revelation to be interpreted by mere mortals. The analogy of faith=Scripture interprets Scripture. Divine revelation is to be divinely interpreted.
City of David, from OT
1 Sam 16:1... Jesse the Bethlehemite.. Jesse=David's father. See also
Mic 5:2 " But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting."
Christ= the son of David., Isa 11:1.. the Rod of Jesse. Cf. Rom 1:3; 2 Tim 2:8; Acts 13:22, 23.
But also,Christ, the Source of David... affirming His deity.
Isa 11:10 " And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."
Question: How could He be Rod and Root at the same time? How could He be Source and Seed of Jesse at the same time? How could He be born when His goings forth are from everlasting, Mic 5:2 ?
Answer: He is God manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim 3:16, the great mystery of godliness!!! Therefore, He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, beginning and the end, Rev 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13.
B. THE SAVING PERSON 11
a Savior , who is Christ the Lord.
Explication: New Geneva Study Bible footnote: Christ=Messiah, the Anointed One. Lord, usually used in the Septuagint, the LXX , the Greek translation of the OT, for God's Own Name, and translated LORD with small capitals. Conclusion= a clear reference to the Baby's deity.
John Nolland, John, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 35a: "The term Savior is applied to also God in 1:69." So a clear connection, an open, deliberate statement and affirmation regarding Jesus' divnity.
Amplification: In Christ God declares... depicts... describes... defines... discloses Himself
Jn 10:33; 14:9; Heb 1:3; etc. In the Self-Revelation of God, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ is normative.
Christ, the Savior of David (and all others), Whose mission is denoted by His Name, Mt 1:21 !!
C. THE SOUND PROOF 12
Of the special revelation== the divine, Saving Messiah in a mean manger, in lowly miserable make-up!! But finitum non capax infinitum... the finite cannot contain (comprehend) the infinite. The mystery of godliness is great!!!
Illustration: Every year Christmas comes around not unexpectedly. We plan for it. Some Xmas club accounts. Some other financial preparation. Etc. Shopping. Eating/drinking, consuming. Rejoicing. Then after, recuperating... we wear it on our waists. But we miss the fact that in Christmas, heaven invaded earth in the human form of God Himself... the greatest gift of all, the indescribable gift, of the Father to all men, 2 Cor 9:15, Who personally delivers man's greatest gift, eternal life by His atoning death, to all those that would receive Him by faith, Jn 3:16. Christmas has an intensely salvific content which Christians sadly disparage and sinfully demean by neglecting to emphasize or to even mention. The reason for Christmas is twofold: the gravity of sin: sinful man is eternally lost, cannot save himself and needs a Savior from above, none less than God himself; and secondly, the love of the Father Who so loved the world that He gave.
