“WELL THE CHRISTMAS SEASON IS UPON US AND HEARTS NATURALLY TURN TO THE ANCIENT STORY OF CHRIST’s BIRTH. YET HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT? TODAY I WANT TO EXAMINE WHAT GOD DID BEFORE JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN.”

 I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World, the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the Christmas and its wonderful joy it brought to folks long ago and still brings today to those  who seek the Lord…

…When you think of Christmas, do you know whatever emphasis you place upon this season and event really tells a lot about you? Yes indeed, for most Americans in our now highly secularized society, Christmas is a time for fantasy images and dreams created by the much publicized and false concepts of Santa Claus, elves, reindeer, grinches and an assortment of fairytales, evergreen trees, lights and festivities. Now I can’t disagree, it’s all a pleasant time whereby we forget the terrible tragedies of every day life, the world terrorism, and wars, and just huddle together as families enjoying this fun holiday season. But if that is all Christmas is to you, then it tells me a wealth of information about your life’s status, your goals and your beliefs about everything.

How’s that you say? We’ll whatever brings us joy, happiness, and satisfaction is what we truly worship, adore, and center our lives upon. Now it’s not wrong to seek things that do that, and in a sense we should do that rather than the opposite, that is so prevalent in our world and life – but what God has designed, to bring us the greatest joy, is often missed by so many.  So today in the spirit of a true Christmas, I want to share with you that real joy that began long ago prior to the birth of the real Christmas story. But first let’s pause one more time for another seasonal song of joy, and then I’ll return with my message – THE HOUSE OF ZACHARIAS...

… Many truths surround the real Christmas story, and today I want to look at just one of them found in the Book of Luke. Listen as I read of this story of joy,

Luke 1:26-38 (NLT)  In the sixth month of Elizabeth 's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth , a village in Galilee , 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!" 29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 "Don't be frightened, Mary," the angel told her, "for God has decided to bless you! 31 You will become pregnant and have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!" 34 Mary asked the angel, "But how can I have a baby? I am a virgin." 35 The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she's already in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God." 38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true." And then the angel left.

What a devastating announcement, yet pleasant surprise. Here a young teenage virgin, about to be married to her childhood sweetheart, finds out God is going to interrupt her happy engagement and forthcoming marriage with a devastating event. Mary of Nazareth was going to unexpectedly, become pregnant, and not with the child of her husband to be. Now I don’t know about you, but that would have crushed me to find my fiancée in such a state, not to mention Mary’s trauma over it too. Yet notice how she responds. She didn’t burst into grief, sadness, or terror, she simply said – “May it be to me as you have said.” More than anything this is, I believe, one of the greatest testimonies of real bible faith in God and His Word, I’ve ever seen. You see, that’s why God especially chose this young virgin woman to bear the God/man Jesus Christ who entered humanity and our world. God saw her faith, that from a child, grew strong and solid. Her hope for the future wasn’t in herself, her parents, Joseph, or the world around her. No, her hope and joy for tomorrow was in her God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who for centuries kept His promises to her ancient people and now was about to fulfill the greatest promise of all. The Bible declares,

Gal 4:4 (NIV) “… the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,”

What joy that brought to Mary’s heart. In fact, the Bible tells us when she fully comprehended God’s work in bringing the long promised Messiah of the world, she burst forth in a song of praise! Listen as I read what is called in the bible, the “Song of Mary”

Luke 1:46-55 (NLT)  Mary responded, “Oh, how I praise the Lord. 47 How I rejoice in God my Savior! 48 For He took notice of his lowly servant girl, and now generation after generation will call me blessed. 49 For He, the Mighty One, is holy, and He has done great things for me. 50 His mercy goes on from generation to generation, to all who fear him. 51 His mighty arm does tremendous things! How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! 52 He has taken princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly. 53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. 54 And how He has helped his servant Israel ! He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. 55 For he promised our ancestors—Abraham and his children—to be merciful to them forever.”

What a testimony of a woman so dedicated to God that she was willing to allow the most precious time of her life to be interrupted for God to accomplish His wonderful promises to a lost and needy world. How about you my friend, would you be willing to allow God to interrupt your life and plans to accomplish His? That’s what the Christmas story really is about. God interrupted our world bent on sinning and living in disobedience to the Creator God and His rules for the universe. God was not about to leave us stranded on this island of sin, this planet once dedicated to the glory of God, but now dedicated to the glory of man and demons. Rather than abandoning it or destroying it immediately when this happened, God delayed and promised all humanity, that joy was coming, and joy would prevail as God would redeem fallen sinful mankind; and more… He would restore the perfection and beauty this world once had at creation, and repopulate it with people whose joy is found in God and His son Jesus Christ!

Yes, Christmas is really not about trees, tinsel, Santa’s and presents. No, it’s about one thing, God’s faithful promise to fulfill His love and concern for a wayward world of sinners hurriedly rushing on to a devastating eternity, forever separated from God and His love.

So, when Christmas day rolls around next Sunday, how will you celebrate it? Will it be as Mary did before it happened? She celebrated her pregnancy with joy and rejoicing. But Mary wasn’t the only one. Let’s read the story that unfolded soon after she discovered she was miraculously pregnant with the Christ child. Again in Luke’s gospel we read the angel of the Lord said,

Luke 1:36-45 (NLT)  What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she's already in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God." 38 Mary responded, "I am the Lord's servant, and I am willing to accept whatever He wants. May everything you have said come true." And then the angel left.  39 A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea , to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth . 41 At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth 's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, "You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. 43 What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! 44 When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! 45 You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what he said."

Here we are confronted with another woman of great faith and love for God. Some of us know the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Zachariah was a priest in Israel and Elizabeth was a close but older cousin of Mary. One day six months ago, while Zachariah was taking his tour of duty serving in the Temple of the Lord; while there, God sent an angel to tell him he and his wife’s lifelong dream to have a child would come true. This couple was barren and had no children. In fact Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife, was probably past the age where conception normally occurred. Let’s back up and read this story too as the miraculous birth of John the Baptist is foretold,

Luke 1:5-17 (NLT)  It all begins with a Jewish priest, Zechariah, who lived when Herod was king of Judea . Zechariah was a member of the priestly order of Abijah. His wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. 6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and now they were both very old. 8 One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple …  10 While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying. 11 Zechariah was in the sanctuary when an angel of the Lord appeared, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was overwhelmed with fear. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! For God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice with you at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch [alcohol], and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will persuade many Israelites to turn to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah, the prophet of old. He will precede the coming of the Lord, preparing the people for his arrival. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will change disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom.”

Here God does a miraculous work and uses the defunct reproductive systems of both Zachariah and Elizabeth to conceive and essentially have a “miracle” child. Notice the promise of this brought them, “great joy and gladness” (Luke 1:14 ).  So here is Mary’s older cousin, perhaps by 20-30 years. Now when Mary found out she was pregnant by miracle work of God the Spirit, she immediately rushed to visit her cousin Elizabeth for she heard by the angel, she too was pregnant. Knowing her age, Mary understand another miracle baby had been conceived. Now when Mary got to Elizabeth ’s home, she recounted what the angel had told her. Let’s again enter the story,

Luke 1:39-45 (NLT)  A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea , to the town 40 where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth . 41 At the sound of Mary's greeting, Elizabeth 's child leaped [with joy] within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, "You are blessed by God above all other women, and your child is blessed. 43 What an honor this is, that the mother of my Lord should visit me! 44 When you came in and greeted me, my baby jumped for joy the instant I heard your voice! 45 You are blessed, because you believed that the Lord would do what He said."

It astounds me to see such great faith among these two women of Israel . Remember, at this time Judaism had miserably failed to uphold the faith of their fathers. Religious apostasy had moved in to Israel . “Phariseeism” had taken hold of the fundamental world of almost all Old Testament believers. These Pharisees, turned what was to be faith in the heart, into faith in one’s traditions and works. In addition, another group of Jewish leaders, the Sadducees, were the opposite lot. They rejected the Bible, and its literal teachings, even of the afterlife. For them “Liberalism” ruled as they fashioned a manmade religion that satisfied their heavily secularized and compromised lifestyles. So, on the track that led straight to God, there was derailment on both sides and each one accused the other of failure and foolishness.

However, in the midst of this turf war of faith – there were those who held to the ancient truths and paths, and God noted them. Now remember what God said of Elizabeth and Zachariah,

Luke 1:6 (NIV)  Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.

For them faith was not a performance of duty, ritual, or works to please God, no their faith was centered on genuine joy and happiness in loving God and resting in His promises. You see both of them trusted that God’s Word was true and would unfold as He promised. They were genuinely “saved” followers of God for they trusted alone in the promise of the Messiah’s coming to save them from their sins. Zachariah served his priestly duties of offering up the countless sacrifices as a testimony of his faith, that one day God would send the perfect and final sacrifice for sin – The Messiah of Israel! You see friend, there is only one way God saves sinners, whether they lived in the Old Testament or the New. We all must come to God, by faith, trusting His Word is true and God cannot and will not lie. We believe God’s promise, that as sinners under the penalty of everlasting death to come, we can be saved from our sins and their penalty ahead. How? One way – trusting that a Messiah, a Savior will take away our sins, and by faith in His coming, and Him  -- God grants us full forgiveness, and eternal life!

The Old Testament saints looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ the Savior of the world, we since, look back and see Him clearly for what He did for us all. Whenever one does this, it brings joy and rejoicing, peace and happiness; and more, satisfaction and fullness of life now and for eternity. You see my friend; this is why Zachariah, Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph were filled with joy! But now the Bible tells us another was filled with joy at the message of God’s salvation fulfillment. Who was that? Let’s go to the text again,

Luke 1:41 (NIV)  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Indeed what a statement! Her in the sixth month of pre-born life, the child, John the Baptist, in his mother’s womb, not yet fully formed, responded to outside speech! Imagine that? Our society today says an unborn baby is not a human being up till it leaves the mother’s womb intact! God says differently. Listen what the Bible tells us,

Psa 139:14-16 (NLT) "Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."

Jeremiah the prophet by divine inspiration wrote these marvelous words, spoken by God,

Jer 1:5 (NLT) ""I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.""

And, Job the oldest of prophets recorded in the Bible,

Job 10:10-12 (NLT) "You guided my conception and formed me in the womb. 11 You clothed me with skin and flesh, and you knit my bones and sinews together. 12 You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care."

God not only fashions life in the womb, but he preserves it with His care, that is until sinful corrupt and rotten humanity attempts to kill that unborn life! God help us this Christmas season as we dwell upon pre-born life to realize one of our greatest sins nationally and individually is to kill our unborn! This is the opposite of happiness and joy. Yet God intends for Christmas to be a time of joy. John the Baptist leaped for joy within his mother’s womb at the sound of his Aunt Mary’s voice and the story of her miraculous birth to come. So friends, although we all know the Christmas story of the birth of the God man Jesus Christ the Savior of the world, do we fully and really know the joy that preceded His coming birth? Here were happy people, joyous people, content people whose faith was not in the times or nation in which they lived. Their hope for today and tomorrow, their expectancy for eternity was based on what God was about to do. God in His ever present love and mercy was bringing into this world, the only means whereby anyone can be saved from their sins. Peter the great apostle of the Lord cried out,

Acts 4:12 (NIV)  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Well friend, that’s the “pre-Christmas” story, and it is a story of love, hope and joy. May this Christmas coming, be the very same for you and may you truly look beyond the Christmas tree, and the lights and presents and see Jesus clearly; and when you do – that this Christmas you crown Him the Lord and Savior of your life. How? As Mary did of old in her testimony,

Luke 1:38 (NLT)  Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever God wants..”

Luke 1:46-50 (NIV)  And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…”

Yes friend, Christ is a remembrance of God’s mercy that extends to those who love and respect Him and His Word, believing in His Son Jesus Christ as their God and Savior from sin.  May this joy be yours this Christmas, and may the Lord Jesus ever be your God and Savior. Amen…

…Well, Christmas is a week away. I know you are getting ready, but make sure you are spiritually ready. Have you taken Jesus Christ as your God and Savior? I’m not asking if you are religious. I’m asking if you’ve crown this one, born in Bethlehem long ago, who died on a cross for your sins, as your Savior and Lord? Without this, Christmas truly means nothing, and all the fairy tales and fantasies as nice as they may make you feel, will one day testify against you for passing by so great salvation and Savior. Put Christ back in Christmas and enter His joy forevermore.

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·         Radio talk #5105

·         Broadcast date: December 18, 2005

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 60033 Grand Junction, CO 81506

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The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 25 years, and serves as General Director.

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