Love Came Down, Part 3 –“Love”

Matthew 2:1-2, 11-12

 

Well there are only 4 shopping days until Christmas

How many of you have more shopping to do?

A)Anyone  not started?

 

B) Different Kinds of Gifts to Get!

 

C) Expensive gifts: Web Site Born Rich – pp unlike us – money is no object

 

Perfect gift for the Wife. Bugatti Veyron – only cost $1.7 million.

 

A little out of your price range? – Try the Neil Lane 15 carat Diamond Earrings – only $750,000

 

For the Husband: Runco 103 inch Plasma display

Price tag: $100,000

 

Lonely grandma Swami conversational robot

$75,000

 

For your teen age daughter: Vertu 7.2 carat Pink with white diamonds cell phone: $73,000

 

So those are your expensive gifts for pp who have money to waste!

A)Creative gifts – Been said that men are the hardest to shop for – Marketing expert – suggestions

 

Best gifts for Dad!

A)Scuba diving lessons / 3 stooges movies

Universal Remote

 

B)Fitting Gifts!  Music lover: Bose Head sound resistant head phones.  I tunes gift cards

1) Chargers Fan – next year !

 

C)Padres fan – season tickets – ½ price

 

Where did this whole gift giving idea start?

A)Part of the First Christmas story – Wisemen who brought gifts for the Baby Jesus.

 

B)Gifts they brought were Expensive / Creative and also Fitting.

 

Matthew 2:1-2 and 11,12

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying,"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."

V.11 “And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.”

Fast Facts:

#1 They were not with the Shepherds.

“And when they had come into the house, {not a stable}they saw the young Child {Not a Baby}with Mary His mother.

 

At least a year old – So your Nativity sets are not accurate but that is ok - 

 

Finish the Song – We 3 kings of …….

 

#2 They were not from the Orient.

A)Came from the east – Possibly part of a group that had been earlier influenced by Daniel

 

#3 We don’t know how many came?

A) We assume 3 because there were 3 gifts – but it could have been much more

 

B)Like the Shepherds they came to worship and Part of their worship involved the giving of gifts!

 

C)Their giving was not so much an addition to their worship as an element of it.

 

D)These wisemen have as much to do with our giving of gifts to one another and to the Lord than probably anyone else in History

 

E)Their gifts were not Random – They were fitting gifts – Gold Frankincense & Myrrh

They came looking for the Christ Child-

A)Christ is not the last name of Jesus!

           It is a title= Anointed one.

 

B)Christ = anointed one – Mas = Festival – Christmas is the festival of God’s anointed one.

 

C)Messiah’s Festival

 

So the gifts that they brought were Fitting gifts for God’s Anointed one

A)See there were 3 offices in OT history that prior to a man starting in anyone of those offices  - he was anointed with oil

 

B)Office of King / Priest / Prophet

 

C)Jesus was the anointed one of God -  Fulfilled all 3 of these offices

 

D)Fitting gifts because Jesus would hold all 3 of these offices

 

Gold for a King – We imagine the first visitor stepping forward and presenting a Chest filled with Gold.

A)The gift of gold needed no explanation – throughout the ancient world –

 

B)Gold was coveted as the most precious of metals and the standard where by all wealth was measured.

Gold is the most sustaining of metals!

A)No single acid can destroy it – it can’t rust away – it cannot become corroded like Iron

 

B)And no one can successfully imitate gold

 

C) Gold a fitting gift for this new born king !

 

D)But He was to reign, not by force, but by love; and he was to rule over men’s hearts, not from a throne, but from a Cross.

 

They also brought Frankincense

A)Frankincense was a costly, beautiful-smelling incense that was used only for the most special of occasions.

 

B)Frankincense is a resin that comes from a tree that is so rare so sacred that only a few select pp were even allowed to approach those trees.

 

C)To obtain this precious fragrance a slash is made in the trunk of the tree and the bark is stripped so that the sap begins to pour out –

 

DThe sap is collected and allowed to harden 3 months becomes a resin- grows on a bush like tree from which resin is extracted –

 

 

The resin is crushed or ground up and put into the fire!

A)Once in the fire it turns into a liquid form to from which comes this incredible fragrance.

 

B)Frankincense was the incense used in the offerings in the temple.

 

C)In the Old Testament it was stored in a special chamber in front of the Temple

1)When applied to an offering – it created this pure white Smoke.

 

What is interesting is that it was never used with the sin or trespass offerings.

A)Because it was considered So Pure – never mixed with those offerings!

 

B)Only used with the Meal offerings = thanksgiving 1) and to burn incense in the Holy place - representing – prayers of the PP

 

C) So Purity /Prayer / Praise  / were associated with Frankincense

 

Fitting:  Because Jesus is the Perfectly Pure High Priest who can sympathize with us in our trials.

 

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Fitting Because Jesus is the Perfectly Pure High Priest who is always interceding for us.

Hebrews 7:25

“ So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” NESV

 

Fitting because Jesus is the Perfectly Pure High Priest declaring  praises to God amongst the people of God.      Hebrews 2:11-12

11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises."    NIV

 

A Fitting Gift fit for a Ministering Priest

A)The function of a priest is to open the way to God for men.

 

B)The Latin word for priest is pontifex, which means a bridge-builder.

 

C)The priest is the man who builds a bridge between men and God.

 

D)That is what Jesus did. He opened the way to God; he made it possible for men to enter into the very presence of God.

 

Leads us to consider the 3rd Gift – Myrrh

Myrrh Comes from the Hebrew word Mar = bitter

A)Myrrh was an embalming fluid used to embalm a dead body in the times of Christ.

 

B)Prepared the Body by wrapping it in layers of linen cloth – same cloth as swaddling clothes

1)Which is an interesting side note

 

C)So the body would be wrapped in the cloth and they would present their embalming spices in between the layers of the cloth  wrap some more

 

D)Remember Joseph of Arimathea – took 100lbs of Myrrh to prepare the body of Jesus for Burial

 

E)Now Ladies if you were invited to a Baby Shower – would it ever cross your mind to bring a case of embalming fluid.

 

That is what these men Brought – and it was a fitting gift because the Baby they came to worship – The Child who was a King – and a Priest.

 

Came for the Purpose of Dying on a Cross for the Sins of the World

A)The First Christmas tree was a Cross

 

B)The Christmas light that was hung upon it – was when Jesus the light of the world-  hung on that Cross to pay the Price for our Sins

 

C)We needed a Savior – because we were born with a sin Nature –

1)Inherited from Adam – part of the fall.

 

D)Sin is a part of our nature – for that reason don’t need to teach kids how to Sin – natural

 

When my daughter Amanda was two yrs old – no one told her how to lie. Came naturally

A)She also got this abnormal sense of satisfaction from seeing her older brother Aaron get a spanking

 

B) One day Aaron was at school & Amanda was sitting in her high chair eating a waffle

 

C) Denise left the room for a minute & when she returned - she saw that Amanda had thrown her  waffle  all over the kitchen floor

 

D)Denise said Amanda - why did you throw your waffle on the floor?

1)Amanda responded - Aaron did it !!!! Then she said spank Aaron!

 

E) Now why did she - say that - and why does she act that way - I surely didn’t teach her that ?  

1) IT IS BECAUSE SHE IS A SINNER !!!!!

 

We sin – Feel guilt -  because we are guilty

A)Jesus came to die – Cleanse us of sin – forgive us

Take away the Guilt

B)Sin has separated man from God - broken fellowship - man in his sin is doomed !  BUT GOD HAD A RESCUE PLAN - FROM BEG.

 

C)Send his Son born of a Baby – Born to die for the Sins of Humanity

 

Why Would God do that ? Why would Jesus agree to Come? One word : Love!  

        John 3:16 Broken down

    God                           the greatest Giver

   so loved                     the greatest motive

   the world                   the greatest need

   that He gave              the greatest act

   His only Son              the greatest gift

   that whosoever          the greatest invitation

   believes in Him          the greatest opportunity

   should not perish       the greatest deliverance

   but have eternal life   the greatest joy

 

Now as we consider these gifts that were given to the Baby Jesus during that first Christmas Season

A)Application for us – is –

 

B)We need to bow to Him as our King!

Philippians  2:10-11

“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Interesting that two of these same gifts are giving to Jesus at His 2nd coming according to Isaiah 60:6

“A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord.”  ESV

 

Myrrh is left out? Why – because He came once to do die for the sins of the world. One Sacrifice for all.

 

We bow to Him as our King – Now too late later

 

C)We need to embrace Him as our Savior!

Romans 10:9

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

 

D)We need to come to Him as our Priest!

Hebrews 4:16

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are going to finish this series today by partaking of Communion .

A)As we do, let it be our way of declaring

 

B)We bow to You as our King

 

C)We embrace You as our Savior

 

D)We come to You as our Priest.