The Miracles of Christmas - Radio Talks by Pastor Paul 2017

The miracles of Christmas for UCB RADIO by Pastor Paul Hodgson

The Apostle Paul tells the Christmas story in this one sentence:
"When the fullness of time had come God sent forth His Son, born of a woman."

Someone has rightly said: "The whole world, religiously, morally, politically and intellectually was ripe for the greatest event of all ages." God had bided His time, the Jewish people had waited for many centuries for their Messiah but when the fullness of time had come it happened. God sent forth his son –The Miracle of God's perfect timing is one of the miracles of Christmas. God is never in a hurry but he is also never late! He has not forgotten your prayers and the things you are waiting upon Him for – trust Him that in the fullness of time He will do something wonderful that is right for you.

The Bible says:
"When the fullness of time had come - God sent forth His Son, born of a woman."
Back in Rome, Caesar Augustus for his own political and economic reasons, had ordered a census. This decree forced Joseph & Mary to travel to Bethlehem at a time that was most inconvenient for them in view of Mary’s pregnancy. They arrived in Bethlehem in time for Jesus to be born there. This was the fulfilment of the prophecy of Micah given 800 years before, that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem! The Miracle of God's perfect timing is one of the miracles of Christmas. God is always on time and He arranged for His son to be born in the right place at just the right time. His able to get you to where you need to be in your life at just the right time as well!.

The Bible says:
"When the fullness of time had come God sent forth His Son, born of a woman."
One of the miracles of Christmas is - The Miracle of God's sending. God sent forth His Son. The One who had the highest place in heaven next to God the Father. The One whom angels worshipped, the One through whom God created all things - was sent from heaven for us. Jesus the Son of God came willingly into this sin sick world to seek and save - to love and forgive - knowing that he would be rejected, tortured and murdered. Where would we be if God had not sent His Son into the world?. If you’ve never appreciated the wonder of that before, then let this Christmas be the time when you personally welcome Jesus into YOUR world.

The Bible says:
"When the fullness of time had come God sent forth His Son, born of a woman."
Without being born of a woman God’s Son would not have been human. This is the the greatest miracle of Christmas – the Miracle of the incarnation. It had been prophesied from the beginning of time back in the Garden of Eden that the seed of the woman would crush the devil’s head. The Son of God came into this world as Son of Man by being born of a woman.-God became one of us! God and man in one person. Jesus was sent into this world to save us - and to do that He had to be human, born of a woman. This greatest miracle of Christmas continues when we ask Jesus to- as the old carol says - be born in us today.

The dictionary definition of a miracle is "A marvellous event attributed to a supernatural cause. The appearance of angels at the first Christmas were marvellous events and surely one of the miracles of Christmas. The Angel Gabriel had first appeared to the prophet Daniel and given him information about the exact timing of the coming of Messiah. Then 500 years later, when the time had come, Gabriel was sent to earth again to announce the fulfilment of his prediction by appearing to Zacharias who was to be the father of John the Baptist who would prepare the way for the Messiah. As the writer of Hebrews says: "The word spoken through angels proved steadfast.” Angels do not appear often but If God wants to speak to you – He will find a way to communicate it to you if you are open to hear it.

The appearance of angels is one of the miracles of Christmas. The angel Gabriel had appeared to Daniel telling him about the coming of the Messiah. Gabriel appeared again 500 years later to Zacharias and gave him the news that he and his wife would be parents to the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah. Instead of being amazed and excited by this angelic visitation Zacharias responds with doubt. He then discovers that he is speaking with Gabriel (a name he would know) and is rebuked by the angel because he did not believe his words which, Gabriel said, “will be fulfilled in their own time." We deprive ourselves of blessings when we doubt God's word. It's faith that pleases God and opens the door to receiving what He has planned for us.

The appearance of angels is one of the miracles of Christmas. The Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary is the most celebrated appearance of all. The angel told her not to fear - that she had found favour with God and would be the mother of the Son of God who will reign forever. Mary's reaction when she fully understood what was being said was: "Let it be to me according to your word." What a beautiful response that was – if only we could all respond to the will of God like that. Willing submission to the will of God is the way of having God’s favour and the gateway to experiencing Jesus in our lives and receiving God’s best for us. Let’s make Mary’s words our prayer today. “Lord let it be to me according to your word”.

The appearance of angels in the events of Christmas is one of the miracles of Christmas. There are 3 occasions when Joseph received instructions from an angel in a dream. The first time was when he had discovered that Mary was pregnant but knew that it was not his child. When the angel explained to him that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit Joseph nobly took Mary under his protection. They continued to be protected by angelic messages. The second time was when Joseph was instructed to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to stay safely away from the murderous intentions of King Herod. And the third time was when they were told to return directly to Nazareth. If like Joseph and Mary we obey God’s word we will experience God’s grace and help and remain under God's protection too.

The greatest miracle of Christmas is the Miracle of the Incarnation. Incarnation literally means: the act of clothing with flesh. The miracle of the Incarnation involves God clothing Himself with flesh. Gabriel explained to Mary that she would "conceive in her womb and bring forth a Son when The Holy Spirit came upon her” That is the Miraculous Conception of Christ. Furthermore Gabriel said: "this child will be… the Son of the Highest"– that is His Divinity and "He will reign… forever"–that is His Eternity. The incarnation is the greatest and most unique miracle of all time. The eternal God found a way to come right into our world by becoming like us to save us. When you believe that - then Christ comes to dwell with you personally and. Christ in you is the hope of glory – that is the miracle of Christmas.

The Virgin Birth of Christ was a unique miracle. All births are a marvel but this one was a miracle – 800 years before the event, Isaiah had prophesied “A virgin shall… bear a son! He went on to say: "Unto US a child is born" This is a miracle for everyone. The Virgin Mary brought forth her firstborn son…and then something astonishing happened – she laid Him in a manger. The Divine, eternal son of God in a manger. How amazing was that –it shows the poverty of His birth and his humility. This birth is truly –for everyone. By being born in such a lowly way even the poorest of the poor can relate to Him. God's love is for ALL of humanity and this is shown in the miracle of the virgin birth!

Back in Persia there were Magi who had dedicated their whole lives to studying the stars so when they observed an unusual conjunction that involved the star that represented, Israel they were really excited. They believed that a divinely appointed king was about to be born and they were so sure of their conclusion that they undertook a 1000 mile journey to see him. That’s fantastic but the real miracle of the star in the east was that this sign had been set in motion at the beginning of creation and now it appeared at just the right time. Once again in the Christmas story we see the miracle of God’s perfect timing. But notice also how God communicated what he was doing in a way that those Magi could understand. If you seek Jesus he will meet with you in a way that will make sense to you too.

The Magi had seen the sign of a star in the East which convinced them of the birth of the child who was to be born King of the Jews. Unlike some dramatized versions of the Christmas story the Magi did not follow the star all the way from the east. They used their logic and travelled to Jerusalem expecting to find the baby king there. They were redirected to Bethlehem just a few miles down the road and that’s when the miracle happened – the star they had seen in the east suddenly appeared and stopped over the place where the child was. This is another stunning example of God’s split second timing. The Christmas story is full of miracles but the greatest one of all is the miracle of God's love in sending His son into this world to give all who believe in Him – everlasting life!