Luke 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. 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. 30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. 32 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 "And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." 34 Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" 35 And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 "Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 "For with God nothing will be impossible." 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.

Of the many titles and names, the Second Person of the Trinity received when He came to this earth as a human to do the Father’s will, the title of the "Son of God" is one of the most awesome. We must remember that the names and titles of any of the Godhead are for the benefit of mankind so that we may better understand the Person and purpose of God.

To be the "Son of God" would mean that the Second Person of the Trinity would have to be born of the Father and be subject to Him. The Second Person of the Trinity never had a beginning. He always was!! The Second Person of the Trinity had always been with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the First and Third Persons of the Trinity. He had always been equal to the other two in the Trinity.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word (the second person of the Trinity), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The Second Person of the Trinity had always been with God, and was all that God was. He was the Creator all things, and had been involved with the others of the Trinity in that process. In some special way, the Second Person of the Trinity was life itself. Not physical life, with its limitations and termination, BUT real life that was the true light of mankind.

The Second Person of the Trinity had never known a beginning. There was never a time when He did not know all things. There was never a time when He was not in all places at all times. There was never a time when the second person of the Trinity experienced anything less than all power.

John 1:14 And the Word (the second person of the Trinity) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Second Person of the Trinity willingly became what He was not. He became flesh. He became all that flesh is.

To be the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity had to have a physical beginning or birth. He willingly became "human" in all aspects without ceasing to be divine in any aspect.

Even though this "New Human" was divine, He laid aside the power of His divinity, and relied only on the First and Third Persons of the Trinity for any Spiritual strength He might need to live a holy life in an unholy world. By living in this manner, He demonstrated HOW any human could live a holy life in an unholy world, and in that sense, He became our example.

For this Second Person of the Trinity to live as a true human:

1. This One Who had always known all things, NOW could only know what He was taught and what He could learn.
2. This One Who had always been in all places at all times, NOW was confined to a few cubic feet of space in the universe He created.
3. This One spoke and it was done! He spoke and the stars were in their places. He spoke and the worlds came to be. He spoke and life was. NOW He could not speak at all! He could only make unintelligent sounds in order to gain the very basic needs for living.
4. This One Who had always had all power, NOW could not stand by His own strength. He could not stretch out His arm to touch and feel His own creation.
5. This One Who was life itself, NOW had to rely on someone else to provide for Him the needed elements to sustain His life.
6. The list could go on, and on, and on.... Jesus "emptied" Himself... and took the form of mankind.

The "story" of Christmas is important. The "facts" of Christmas are vital. However, as long as they stay simply a "story" and "facts", they are of little more value than the story of Santa or the Magic Snowman.

The "story" and "facts" of the birth of Christ, as important as they may be, will never change a sinner to a saint, or a saint to one living a holy live. This truth is evidenced by how "glad" Satan is to have this "story" of Christ’s birth told alongside all the other stories of Christmas. How-be-it, Satan sees to it that the "facts" of this "story" are muddied just a little in the telling.

By association and acceptance of this "story" alongside all the other stories, along with the altered "facts" Satan renders the "story" of the Birth of the Savior less effective than it should be. Thereby, winning a major battle in this Spiritual warfare.

Events and facts of the Bible are important, because they make it possible for us to know the greater Spiritual truth that those facts were designed, by God, to proclaim. Great Spiritual events and facts are important, but of themselves they have little spiritual power to transform a life.

The disciples saw great and wondrous events, and they personally heard great truths from the lips of Christ, Himself. BUT over and over again, it is recorded in the Bible that they did not believe. A couple of examples: The disciples saw and participated with Christ as He fed thousands on two different occasions.

Last night at the progressive dinner, I marveled that our church ladies (with some help from the men of course) fed almost sixty people in eight different homes. All due respect (and appreciation) to our ladies, BUT they started with a little more, quite a bit more than five loaves and two small fishes.

Can you imagine what the Lord could have done with 30 pounds of fajita meat, plus all those other goodies??? Ladies, I’m sorry to have to let a little air out of your very deserving "balloons of pride".., BUT your culinary proficiencies, in feeding large groups on a limited budget, just do not measure up to those of our Lord and Savior. I know that comes as a shock, but.......

No, just events, even great events and facts do not a transformation make. Look at the effect Christ’s miracles of feeding the multitudes had on "changing" the disciples lives.

Mark 8:14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat (those loafs would have been just about enough for one person). 15 Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." 16 So they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread." 17 And Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 "Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 "When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve." 20 "And when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?" And they said, "Seven." 21 So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"

This particular morning, the disciples had evidently become engrossed in conversation about who was going to win the "Super Bowl", or some other earth shaking event (Well, maybe it wasn’t the Super Bowl). Their favorite subject was "which one of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God", so maybe that was the topic this morning.

Whatever the problem, they "forgot" to take the sliced ham, Miracle Whip and bread for lunch (or whatever). The phrase "had forgotten", in v. 14, would indicate that this was a responsibility. Because they had not fulfilled their responsibility, that failure so occupied their minds that they did not understand when Christ tried to teach them some spiritual truths. This failure also caused them to make wrong applications of the truths taught by Christ. That would make a pretty good study for us some time, wouldn’t it???

It’s important that we see what took place in this incident, and what Christ said in response to their actions and attitudes. The truths of this passage will have a great impact on our understanding and proper use of the "story" of Christmas and the "facts" of that story.

The disciples made a wrong interpretation of Christ’s teaching, AND an extremely poor application of the truths presented by Christ. Whereupon, Christ said...:

1. Do you not perceive?
2. Do you not understand?
3. Is your heart STILL hardened?
4. Do you not see?
5. Do you not hear?
6. Do you not remember?

That was quite an indictment by Christ of the twelve!!! By the way, each of those in that list have a great impact on the development of a holy conduct.

If we were to have a similar conversation with Christ about the events and truths of Christmas, I fear that we would hear a similar or stronger indictment as to our proper use of the facts of Christmas.

The incidents Christ referred to, that should have been a base for their understanding of the present situation, was the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000. The process of building unknown spiritual truth on a foundation of known facts is a basic teaching tool of the Holy Spirit.

I don’t want to be redundant, but let’s move through Christ’s response and questions. Christ stated and then ask, "You remember the 5,000. How many baskets full of fragments did you pick up?" The disciples replied, "Twelve".

Christ again made a statement/question. "You remember the 4,000. How many LARGE baskets full of fragments did you pick up?" To this, the disciples replied, "Seven".

Even with Christ refreshing their memories, and directing an application through His questions, the disciples STILL didn’t "get it"! The English translation from the Greek of v 21 does not give us the real "flavor" of Christ’s response to this exchange. Please note that the disciples remembered the events, and they had the facts of those events correct.

The problem was what the disciples did with those events and facts. Those events and facts were designed, by God, to bring out truths beyond the simple reality of the events or the facts, themselves. The truths Christ wanted them to know and live should have been perceived, by the disciples, from the events and the facts.

Last but not least, the disciples should have acted in a proper manner based on their perceptions drawn from those events and facts. However, NONE of the that took place. BUT don’t be too hard on the disciples until you look in the mirror of your life concerning the events and facts of the birth of Christ.

Mark 8:21 So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"

Understand = (Greek) To hear, notice, perceive, recognize, understand and put it all together in the sense of the presentation.

Christ asks in v. 21, "How can you possibly see and hear all of this and STILL not ‘put it all together in a manner that makes sense’?", as per Greek definition of "understand".

Add to that the fact that the Greek structure of this portion is not talking about something that happened only in the past.., BUT something that is occurring even while the speaker is still making the statement. The disciples did not "get it" when these events took place.., AND they were STILL not getting it, even while Christ was explaining it to them.

I wonder how many times we have heard the Christmas story?!? How many times have we been in a Christmas play, or sung the Christmas songs, etc.? I also wonder if we are really "putting all those facts together in a manner that makes sense"?

Before we leave our illustration and move back to the "event" and "facts" of Christ’s birth, let’s look at one more application made by Christ of these "feeding" accounts.

Mark 6:46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them (disciples) straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. 49 But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. And immediately He talked with them and said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.

There is much here, such as, they were greatly troubled, did not recognize Christ, etc. They had these problems because ("for" v. 52) they had not understood about the loaves. But most of those things will have to wait for another time. I want us to see that this incident was recorded two chapters before the account we just looked at.

In chapter 6, Christ states that they did not understand, and their hearts were hardened. You would think that experiencing the calming of the sea would have stamped the truths and the application of these accounts on their lives is such a manner that there would have been a "change".

They certainly were affected emotionally. Why, they might even have raised their hands or signed pledge cards, if such things were in vogue then. BUT two chapters later, Christ says the very SAME things about their mentality and heart condition. The disciples were the same as they were in chapter 6. These events had not changed them in the least.

Mark 8:17 And Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 "Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 "When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?" They said to Him, "Twelve."

These were not "bad" men. These were the "better" men. They weren’t even on the Board of Education, nor had they served on the City Council. Why, they weren’t even running for President of the United States. These were men you would like to buy a used car from.

We need to see that it takes MORE than just "events" and "facts" to make a real Spiritual change in our lives. There are those in the Fundamental circles that imply that the "mark" of a great Spiritual giant is how many Bible Classes a person attends, or how long and often a person prays out loud. Some are following that advice, and running from one Bible Class to another.., AND yet their lives are just as empty today as a year ago.

Some are spending hour after hour in the Bible Studies and some are going to great religious events. Yet, after the events and the Bible Studies are over, they still talk the same, still have the same self-centeredness and life has no more meaning than before the events or the Bible classes.

Folks, I’m not against Bible Classes. No Bible Classes, and I would be out of business. Plus, most of us could use a LOT more Bible knowledge. I’m not against great meetings and religious events. Most of us could us a little "spurring on".

What I am saying is...., IF you think for one moment that just having "facts" and experiencing "events" will change your life to be like Christ..., then you are out of your ever loving mind!!!!!

Listen! These disciples were in attendance at Bible Classes several times a day! The teacher was none less than Jesus Christ, the Son of God!!!!! These disciples were at GREAT religious events everyday, and sometimes several times a day. The "director" of these daily religious events was God in Christ.

YET...... with all that, they hadn’t "put it together in the sense of the presentation", AND their hearts were still hardened. If you want to know the peace and joy offered by these events of Christmas and by the facts of the Birth of Christ, there is something YOU must do besides getting MORE facts and experiencing MORE events.

The events of Christ birth take up very little space in the inspired Word of God. There are only a few direct references to birth of Christ in the epistles or the Book of Revelation. Yet, Christ’s death and resurrection is given a great deal of space in the Holy Spirit inspired Word of God, and it is mentioned often in the epistles and the Book of Revelation.

However, the birth and life of Christ are mentioned in the epistles in many ways that we might skip over in a casual reading. Let’s look at one of the Biblical commentaries on the birth and life of Christ. You will find in this commentary, there are instructions that, IF followed, will cause the events and facts of this account to be life changing.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Please notice! This passage in Phil 2 is referring to the Birth and life of Christ. We often refer to this transaction as the "incarnation". That is a big word, with theological overtones, so we shy away from it. It’s really not as mysterious as we might try to make it. Take the word apart, and it’s really full of meaning that is easy to visualize.

The middle of the word is made up of another word "carna". We find this word on the shelves of most grocery stores. It will be used on some cans of chili. Some cans of chili will simply say "Chili with beans". Other cans of chili will say "Chili-con-carne", or chili with "meat".

That helps us with the literal meaning of "incarnation". Incarnation is the act or fact of God being in "meat" or flesh. God became encased in "meat" or flesh through the virgin birth. Therefore, the Son born from this virgin birth, named Jesus, was the "Son of God". That is exactly what our passage in John 1:14 tells us.

John 1:14 And the Word (the very expression of God) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Dwelt = (Greek) At a point of time to take up temporary resident; To tent or encamp.

The Second Person of the Trinity gave up His right to be equal with God, and was placed in flesh. This Second Person of the Trinity "humbled" himself from the glory of Godness and of being the life-giver.., so He could become "JESUS" the Savior of the world through death on the cross.

Those are some of the facts and that is the event. BUT there are truths here far beyond the facts and the event that we need to heed, if we are to know a personal life of holiness. We can only glance at a small portion of the truths taught by these facts and this event. Philippians 2.1 summarizes the truth we want to see.

Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus

We are to continually "let" the mind of Christ be in us by a continuous action of the will. Thereby, thinking in the same manner as Christ in that matter.

Let-this-mind = (Greek) To think. Implying not only thoughts, but also affections or emotions as well as the moral consideration. This is a conscious action of the will.

We are to deliberately and willfully live by means of a continual action of our thoughts, emotions and the moral fiber of our lives. We are to live. think and act by the same motive that brought Christ to this earth as a Baby in the manger.

Christ gave up His rights to all the glory of Godness, so that He could make it possible, through His VIRGIN BIRTH, for others to become "Sons of God". In like manner, we are to give up our right to self glory, so that we can help others become the "Sons of God" through the NEW BIRTH.

In the event of Christ’s birth as the "Son of God", God was encased in the flesh of that baby boy by means of the Holy Spirit through the "Virgin Birth", and that birth brought into the world the "Only Begotten Son of God".

Because of that birth to Mary so long ago, it is possible for a depraved human to become a Son of God in Christ. In the case of a depraved human becoming a Son of God, God is also encased in flesh within that sinner by means of the Holy Spirit through the "New Birth". Therefore, we are part of Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, and by that action we are made Sons of God, also.

Christ was willing to become less than He was as to His rights and glory, so we could become more than we were. We became the "Sons of God". We are to have that same mind, AND willingly become less than we have a right to be as a human, so that others can become "Sons of God" and grow to be like Christ in glory.

There is a Christmas song we very seldom sing at Christmas by J. Wilbur Chapman, because we may not consider it a Christmas Carol. However, it is truly a Christmas song.

One day when heaven was filled with His praises,
One day when sin was a black as can be.
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He!!

Chorus

Living, He loved me;
Dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever;
One day He’s coming! O glorious day!!

One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain;
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree.
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected,
Bearing our sins. My redeemer is He!

One day they left Him alone in the garden;
One day He rested, from suffering free.
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil.
Hope of the hopeless. My Savior is He!

One day the grave could conceal him no longer;
One day the stone rolled away from the door.
Then He arose over death He had conquered;
Now is ascended. My Lord evermore.

One day the trumpet will sound for His coming;
One day the skies with His glories will shine.
Wonderful day, my beloved ones bringing!
Glorious Savior! This Jesus is Mine!!!

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

The Jews didn’t know Him when He came. The World didn’t know Him when He came. The angels knew Him when He came. Creation knew Him when He came. As a matter of fact, the Scriptures tell us that if no one else would praise Him, the "rocks would cry out". The demons knew Him when He came. We’ll see more of that in the next lesson.

All of that is important!

But the most important thing is....

Do you know Him as your personal Savior now that He has come???