Christmas through the eyes
of Mary
Luke 1:26 –38
How
many of you are ready for Christmas?
A) Oh I don’t mean you have
all your shopping done.
B) I mean mentally –
spiritually – Looking forward to it? – Excited!
1) To me, honest, I wasn’t
until Thurs night!
C) Denise and I had made the
list/ done some shopping –{ Kids ages
different – one bigger thing
1) Instead of many little
things
D) I wasn’t in the mood – I
wasn’t in the Spirit
1) Thurs mom’s house – {
Decorations Excited
E) Last night – Excited – 25
women saved
1) Kids thing today Excited
Sometimes
this season means Pressure:
A) Busy - Season of Purchases /
Packages / Presents – all of which amounts to great Pressure
B)The Lord reminded me of a great truth
yesterday: Rob, Christmas is something you celebrate for Pleasure – because
the
Pressure was on my Son
C)
So ease up, Relax – It is not about Packages & Presents / it is about a
Person / it is about How He took the Pressure – for our Pleasure!
B) That is such an important
principle to remember – For another person’s pleasure – there had to be one person’s Pressure
1)
That
Principle can apply to all points in life
C) You ladies are looking forward to
Christmas Dinner: Joy seeing everyone around the table – Pleasure seeing them
enjoy the meal
1)
But Christmas dinner also means Christmas Dishes
D) Kids are looking forward to Christmas Presents:
But that also meant Christmas Purchases – long lines – fighting traffic
Kids are looking
forward to fun toys – but for you Dad that means a variety of Batteries
A)
Why can’t they have one universal Battery that fits everything Why AA/ AAA/ C’s
& D’s - What happened to B – Bummer
deal
B)
And when you have all the Letters in your Garage
A’s
/ C’s /D’s there has to be a toy that needs a 9 volt
– you don’t have a little square one
1) And why is the 9 volt so
small – when the 12 volt is the size of a small water mellon in your car – only 3 volt difference
C)
Yea – True for their Pleasure – it means Pressure for You : REMEMBER:
1) Jesus took the pressure
for our pleasure
Started
thinking about the Christmas Story – usually I spend one Sunday talking about
it –
A) Too many angles – great
story – real miracle –
INCARNATION
B) Christmas from the
Angels’ perspective
1) From the perspective of
the wisemen
2) Joseph 3) Jesus 4) God the Father
5) Prophecy
C) Over the next few weeks I
want us to consider some of those perspectives
Story
that really should blow our minds – warm our hearts – Deserves more than one
look
A) Today Christmas thru the
eyes of Mary{ Actually 9 months prior: so turn to Luke Ch. 1
26 Now in the
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named
Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
CONSIDER
MARY:
A) She was from Nazareth –
Pit stop kind of place
B) Stop over for Roman
soldiers – known for brothels and drunkenness
C) Question can anything good come out of NAZ
1) It had a reputation for
being a bad place.
Not
a place you would have picked if you were God to have your son born into the
world.
A) Unlikely place for the
son of God to grow up
That is where Mary Lives
B) Mary is just a
young girl – she is 13-15 yrs old
She is Betrothed
to be married
: 3
Stages – Arrangement - Engagement –
young { Betrothal – So seriouss – only Divorce could
Break it
C) Today we fall in love
first, get married afterwards
1) Those days- Married –
then fall in love
So it is during this time of
Betrothal – that the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary
She
is a Virgin: Never been with a man! Why Sig?
A) Genesis 3 Thru the seed
of the women – Messiah would come – women don’t carry seed { Egg
B) Sign Isaiah 7:14 A virgin
shall conceive – that is a sign – Not a sign if a
young girl
C) Importance of the virgin
Birth
In order for Christ to be
our Savior, three conditions must be met:
1) He must be a man. An angel could
not die for our sins. He must truly share our humanity.
2) He
must be an infinite man. A mere mortal could not bear the infinite
price that must be paid for our sins.
3) He must be an
innocent man. A sinner could not die for the sins of others.
The Virgin Birth guarantees that our Lord fulfills all three conditions.
Because
he is born of Mary, he is fully human.
Because He is
conceived by the Holy Spirit, He is fully God.
Because
He is born holy, He is sinless in thought, word and deed.
Thus
He is fully qualified to be our Savior.
Luke 1:28-29
28 And having
come in, the angel said to her,"Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is
with you; blessed are you among
women!"
29 But when she
saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting
this was.
Note
that She was troubled at this greeting.
A) This is one of the things
that stands out to me about Mary: She is Unpretentious
B) In other words she thought of herself as being
undeserving / unworthy of such a Visitation from God
Bb)
Who am I – just
a simple hand maiden – who am I that
an Angel of God should come to my House
1)
I
love this about Mary – I love this heart – She
understood grace – She understood – Lord I am undeserving of any
Blessing from You
C) Why is that important: Well it is
during this time of Year that we sometimes forget that – How undeserving we really are
D)
Before we are saved – we wanted an
angelic visitation – Prove yourself God really real
– Let me see an Angel like Mary did
E)
Time when we Demanded from God – Single I want a
Mate / Broke I want some money / Come on God do something special – show me
your real
When we were
Unbelievers we wanted God to Prove Himself / As Christians we want God to
Perform for us
A)
Lord it is Christmas – No one should be Sick – {
Flu season in summer { Who’s idea – winter around Christmas { Not Fair sick
B)
Wait a minute – Mistake we make – Christmas time is supposed to be a time where
we are thanking God for what we already Have
Bb) Thanking Him for what He has already Done / not
complaining about what we don’t have / asking for what we really want
C)
But we can fall into that Trap – starts when we are Young – Kids letters to
Santa : “Dear Santa Last year you didn’t bring me
anything good – the yr before you didn’t bring me anything good – this yr
is your last chance” Signed Bobby
Well that is what Some people do w/ the
Lord – Last Chance God, come thru for me – last yr bad / Year before worse –
not this year – good holiday
B)
Another
Letter: Dear Santa in my house there are 3 boys:
Daniel is 2 Jeffery is 4 / Justin is 7 – Daniel is good sometimes / Jeffery …
sometimes / but Justin is good all of the time – signed Justin
C)
Again People do that w/ God – come on God you Know me – I am good person – so
Bless me please
D) What are we doing: God gives
us the gift of His Son / He offers us Salvation from Sin / Hell – we appreciate
it when first saved
1)
But
then we wonder is there anything more !!! Anything else
E) Lose the Wonder: God sent His Son
– Born as a Baby – go to a Cross Just for YOU !!!! { That is enough –
Mary – Unpretentious – she is Shocked
at this greeting
Gabriel’s response: Rd v.30-33
Mary
is Unpretentious / undeserving / unworthy – But she is also Unselfish !!!
A) Why do I note that – well Mary has just
Surrendered her Body, her soul / her spirit for
the sake of the Lord
B)
She says – I don’t know how You are going to do this – but if You want
to use me in this way – then ok God – I am available
Mary
is at a time in her life that most Hebrew girls longed for.
A) Today: What do you want
to be- the Sky is the Limit – Fire fighter / Doctor / Lawyer
B) Those days a girl’s dream
was to be a wife and then a mother –
1) Mary is close to seeing
that dream of being a wife come true
C) God interrupts that- You
have been Chosen to give birth to the Messiah
1) A mother and then a wife.
She
also knew what the Potential ramifications would be in that culture for a young
unmarried woman to suddenly become Pregnant
A)[Almost has become
accepted in our Culture] – but not in theirs, she Knew that unless God protected her she could
be stoned to death
B)
She had to wonder – if this meant that she would no
longer marry Joseph, surely he would have a hard time understanding this
1) I am pregnant –
God is the Father
C) She Knows the rumors that are going to fly about her – but despite
all of those possibilities she says –
Lord I
will Trust you
D) She knew what women go
thru in Pregnancy – she Knew what the next 9months would entail
Amazing
Young girl A) From God’s perspective– she was Highly favored among women
B) A
very interesting Phrase = greatly graced
C) The phrase
is used in only one other place in the NT Ephesians 1:6 “To the praise of the glory of His grace
whereby He has made us accepted in the Beloved
D) Made us accepted in the
Beloved is this same phrase – Highly favored
1) Our place now in Christ
Now
check this out - the result of God’s grace in Mary’s life meant that
Christ was placed in her .
A)
Priviledge of carrying Him for 9 months
B)
The result of the overflowing grace in our lives means that we have been placed
in Christ.
1)
Father looks at us, He sees us in His
Son
See
it is not who we are that makes us highly favored - it is where we’re are at -
In Christ . Recipients of God’s grace
A) Because of that grace God
looks at us in His Son. Highly favored
B) It is only thru the grace of God that we are able to accomplish
anything for Him.
C)
And in the midst of all the spiritual darkness & iniquity that is in N.
County - God’s grace can effectually work in your life - just like it did in
Mary’s
D)
Paul said 2 Cor. 12: God’s grace is sufficient - His power is made perfect in
my weakness .
Area
of weakness in your life - enemy coming against you - those around you - are
living in darkness
E) God’s grace will sustain
you !
1) 1 Peter 5:12 By grace we
stand
Consider
for a moment all of the sin & iniquity that goes on every single day all
around us .
A)Yet in the midst of this
Nazareth that we find ourselves living in:
B) God grace can be in you
just as it was in Mary.
C)) It is when we lose sight
of that fact & begin to try & stand in our own strentgth or think that
we have it together -
1) that is when we get into trouble .
D) May we be those who are
found saying - Lord I need more of your grace in my life .
V.34 Mary’s response: Then Mary said to
the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
She is a woman of faith:
Now
Mary’s response here is different from Zach. / When Gab. Came to Zach - / Zach.
Response was one of doubt
A) His attitude was more like: There is no way, we are too old.
B) But Mary’s response is diff.
she is seeking some clarification. Understanding /Wow - How is this going to happen - She is not doubting -
1) How is the Lord going to do
this, I haven’t known a man.
C) Do
you ever find yourself doing this - Lord I need to understand.
1) I went down to the beach one
morning just to take a walk & pray - get alone w/ the Lord.
D) To contemplate some things
going on in my life that I just didn’t understand. - I was thinking about Mary’s response
1) The Lord spoke so clearly to
my heart - You
don’t need to understand you just need to trust me & follow me.
E) As I sat there having this
Conversation w/ the Lord I was looking at the ocean - the tide coming in &
going out -
1) thought I don’t understand
how & why the water doesn’t just keep coming. THE LORD SAYS IT IS ME!!!!
F) Then I thought about how an
airplane gets off the ground & actually flys - I know it has something to
do w/ the Law of aerodynamics / that supercedes the law of gravity
G) But I don’t understand it -
yet I go & get on an airplane w/ out even thinking about it & fly to
the otherside of the world.
I
thought about as I sat there on that
beach & looked at all that sand - and remembered that in God’s word He says
His thoughts for me outnumber the sand
A) I surely don’t understand
that but I want to rest in that
B) God sometimes says to us - Don’t try to figure it out in your finite
brain - Just believe it - trust Me
C) Paul said that when we do
that He gives us a peace that surpasses understanding .
1) So often we seek a peace
that is w/ understanding - yet God brings a Peace that surpasses understanding
Mary
said How can this be - I haven’t known a man A) in
other words -this isn’t natural / there is no man I am not married .
B) We sometimes do that too
- always looking in the natural
C) In the natural - we tend
to put our eyes on men - Lord I don’t see
a way, I don’t see a man - /
D) Mary is asking: How are
you going to do this Lord ?
Gab’s response Rd v. 35-37
Gab.says
it is not going to be a natural thing at all but a supernatural thing/ not thru
a man but by God’s spirit .
A)
Zech. 4:6 'Not by might nor by power, but
by My Spirit,' Says the LORD of hosts.
B)
Not a natural thing at all it is a supernatural work of God - and He has been
working already
1) your relative Elizabeth -
who was barren has also concieved in her old age & she is in her 6th
month.
C) FOR
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE W/ GOD!!!
Interesting
the way the old New American standard Bible translated that verse No word is w/ out power
A) The word impossible is the
opposite of Dunamis in the grk - From which we get our english word - Power or
dynamic
B) No word is w/out Power - I
like that because what God speaks in His word when we embrace it / it has the
power to produce conception in us
C)
If you take the word of God at face value conception is the result - and that
which was barren in your life - can be given life.
D)
Marriage Problems / Thru
embracing God’s word - your marriage which may be dying can be given life
1) Lord I don’t understand
exactly how this works but Lord I am going to embrace it - Love my wife or
submit to my husband
D) Conflict in a friendship - What does God’s word say ?
1) Says to love & to
forgive/ And the end result will be
life .
E) That is why Peter referred
to the word as the seed - or the spermatosa in the grk in 1 Peter 1:23 –
1)
See,
When it takes, it produces life /
When we Embrace it - miracles happen & that is
what Mary
did v.38 Then Mary said, "Behold the maidservant
of the Lord! Let it be to me according
to your word." And the angel departed from her.