Good
morning! I wanted to thank the staff and
the residents here at Brookdale for allowing our church the opportunity to come
and share this Christmas Eve service with you all. This morning we have a special program
planned. First, we are going to start
with Christmas carols, and you are all invited to join with us in singing. After that, I am going to share a short
message titled “The Happy Birthday Celebration That Never Ends.” Following the message, the children will sing
a special song that they have been planning and practicing in Sunday
school. After this special presentation,
we are going to have a time to fellowship with you and enjoy your company this
Christmas Eve morning.
Before we start let’s
pray. Lord, we are thankful for Your
coming as a baby to bring us the opportunity for salvation. May our celebrations today both honor and
glorify You.
In
Luke Chapter 2 we read the gospel writer’s record of Jesus’s birth: Luke 2 (Amplified Bible Version)
In those days it
occurred that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole Roman Empire
should be registered. This was the first enrollment, and it was made when
Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all the people were going to be
registered, each to his own city or town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee
from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the town of David, which is called
Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with
Mary, his espoused wife, who was about to become a mother. And while they were
there, the time came for her delivery, and she gave birth to her Son, her
Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger,
because there was no room or place for them in the inn. And in that vicinity
there were shepherds living [out under the open sky] in the field, watching [in
shifts] over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by
them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were
terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold,
I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. For to
you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah).
And this will be a sign for you [by which you will recognize Him]: you will
find a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Then suddenly
there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven, praising God and
saying, “Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men
with whom He is well pleased.” When the angels went away from them into heaven,
the shepherds said one to another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this
thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went
with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in a manger. And when
they saw it, they made known what had been told them concerning this Child, and
all who heard it were astounded and marveled at what the shepherds told them.
But Mary was keeping
within herself all these things, weighing and pondering them in her heart. And
the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
–Luke 2:1-20
Luke
goes on to record the next event of this miraculous child when His parents took
Him to the temple to be dedicated:
Now there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout
[cautiously and carefully observing the divine Law], and looking for the
Consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been divinely
revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had
seen the Lord’s Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). And prompted by the
[Holy] Spirit, he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the
little child Jesus to do for Him what was customary according to the Law, [Simeon]
took Him up in his arms and praised and thanked God and said, “And now, Lord,
You are releasing Your servant to depart (leave this world) in peace, according
to Your word. For with my [own] eyes I have seen Your Salvation, which You have
ordained and prepared before (in the presence of) all peoples, a Light for
revelation to the Gentiles [to disclose what was before unknown] and [to bring]
praise and honor and glory to Your people Israel.” And His [legal] father and [His] mother were
marveling at what was said about Him. –Luke 2:25-33
Later,
after Jesus had grown to be a man, Luke records that Jesus said:
“What man of you, if he
has a hundred sheep and should lose one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine
in the wilderness (desert) and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he lays it on his [own] shoulders, rejoicing. And
when he gets home, he summons together [his] friends and [his] neighbors, saying
to them, rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost. Thus, I
tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one wicked person who
repents changes his mind, abhorring his errors and misdeeds, and determines to
enter upon a better course of life than over ninety-nine righteous persons who
have no need of repentance. Or what woman, having ten [silver] drachmas, if she
loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and look carefully
and diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she summons her
[women] friends and neighbors, saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the silver
coin which I had lost. Even so, I tell you, there is joy among and in the
presence of the angels of God over one wicked person who repents changes
his mind for the better, heartily amending his ways, with abhorrence of his
past sins).” –Luke 15:4-10
Jesus
went on to tell the story of the prodigal son who had squandered all of his
share of his father’s inheritance and was starving to death said to himself:
The hired servants of my father have enough food, and [even food] to
spare, but I am perishing (dying) here of hunger! I will get up and go to my
father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in
your sight. I am no longer worthy
to be called your son; [just] make me like one of your hired servants.” So he
got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his
father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and
embraced him and kissed him and the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned
against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son
[I no longer deserve to be recognized as a son of yours]!” But the father said
to his bond servants, “Bring quickly the best robe (the festive robe of honor)
and put it on him; and give him a ring for his hand and sandals for his feet. And
bring out that [wheat-] fattened calf and kill it; and let us revel and
feast and be happy and make merry, Because this my son was dead and is
alive again; he was lost and is found! And they began to revel and feast and
make merry.”—Luke 15:17-24
The apostle Peter wrote
of how faith in Christ brings us a
similar sense of joy and celebration.
Praised (honored, blessed) be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born
again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from
the dead, [Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of
change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for
you, Who are being guarded (garrisoned) by God’s power through [your] faith [till
you fully inherit that final] salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you]
in the last time. [You should] be exceedingly glad on this account,
though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer
temptations, So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your
faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is
tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to
redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah,
the Anointed One) is revealed. Without having seen Him, you love Him; though
you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with
inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly) joy.—I Peter 1:3-8
So
you might be asking yourself, “What do all of these passages have to do with
Christmas?” The answer is this: God did not want the birth of His Son Jesus to
go unnoticed, nor did he want it to be uncelebrated, so He dispatched an army
of angels to announce it to the shepherds who were tending their flock. He may even have dispatched all the angels in
heaven for this. Some people don’t
believe in celebrating Christmas or birthdays because they say it is a pagan
custom.
In Romans 14, Paul says:
“One person regards one day above another, another regards
every day alike. Each person
must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it
for the Lord”—Romans 14:5-6
When
a person turns from their sin and puts their faith in Jesus His Son, God the Father
adopts that person into His family. God
the Father has the same desire to have all the angels rejoice over this new adopted
child at their new birth as He had for His son Jesus at his birth. But it
doesn’t just end there. Since we are adopted
children of God, we can now join with the angels in rejoicing over the new
birth of our new adopted siblings. These
salvations/spiritual adoptions are taking place all over the world every day as
people turn from their sins and put their faith in Christ for salvation and not
the good deeds that they have done. To
God, all of their righteous deeds are like filthy rags compared to Christ’s
sacrifice on the cross.
As
some of you know I am number eleven of fourteen children. My mother would remember each of our birthdays
and hold a celebration for each of us on the anniversary of our individual
birthday each year. In the same way, each year we join with the angels in remembering
and celebrating Christ’s birthday on December 25th (Christmas day) because
we are now part of His family.
In
Carl’s message last Sunday he shared with us how over 300 years after the
actual birth of Christ the emperor Constantine designated December 25th
as the day that the Roman Empire would annually celebrate this great
event. Celebrating Christ’s birthday on
the actual day isn’t as important as celebrating it with the entire church
family. Our family often celebrates our birthdays on a day other than the
actual birthday so that the maximum number of our family members and friends can
attend and celebrate with us. Once we
even had a birthday party for my youngest daughter Grace’s birthday in June so
that all of her friends could come even though her actual birthday is actually today
(Christmas Eve).
But,
as I said, people are turning from their sins and putting their faith in Christ
every day of the year. So that means
that the angels are rejoicing in heaven every day of the year at these new
births. This has been going on for more
than two thousand years, so perhaps millions of people share the same spiritual
birthday. That is why Peter could say in
the verse that I read earlier that: “[You should] be exceedingly glad on this
account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and
suffer temptations.”
My
daughter Grace was born on Christmas Eve, but she was also spiritually born
again and adopted into the family of God years later on April 4th. So not only am I celebrating her birthday
today but I am also celebrating with all the angels in heaven the new believers
in Christ that are being born again today.
The prophet Daniel writes
in Daniel chapter 12 (NASB) about the time
of the end:
“Now at that time
Michael, the great prince who stands guard
over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress
such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that
time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many
of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting
life, but the others to disgrace and
everlasting contempt.”—Daniel 12:1-2
The prophet Malachi also
writes about The Book of Remembrance:
Now
in chapter 20 of the book of Revelation (NASB) we read in verse 15: “Those
whose names were not found in the Book of Life were thrown into the fiery lake.”
I
don’t think the book of life is a guest register like you see at a funeral. I
think it is more like a perpetual calendar with the names written in it on the
date each sinner repented of their sins and believed in Jesus Christ for
forgiveness and salvation. For sure the
book is a permanent record that they were indeed born again spiritually. Just
knowing that should change how we view each day when we wake up in the morning.
If
you haven’t already done so and you want to be adopted in the family of God and
have your name written in the Lamb’s book of Life, you can do so today just by
opening the door to your heart and asking Jesus to be the Lord of your life and
Savior of your soul. He essentially says
this in Revelation 3:21: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears
My voice and opens the door I will come into him and dine with him and he with
Me.”
The
angels in heaven are always ready to celebrate the new birth of an adopted
child of God. If you already know the
Lord and are one of His adopted, take every opportunity to share with those
around you who do not that they too can be born again. Opportunities for the angels to celebrate
these new births will not last forever. A day just before the Great Tribulation
will come when the angles in heaven will be silent. We read about that day in chapter 8 verse 1
of the book of Revelation where the apostle John wrote “When the Lamb broke the
seventh seal; there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
Now
until that time comes please be extremely happy with me and the angles in
heaven today, as we celebrate all of those who were born again on the eve of
Christ‘s designated birthday celebration. Also remember to celebrate the birth of Jesus
Christ tomorrow and to celebrate both tomorrow and every day thereafter the new
births of all of our spiritual adopted siblings.
