Please turn in your copies of God's Word to the Gospel of Luke. We have been in some of the later chapters in Luke, but here we will turn back the clock as it were and go back to Luke chapter 2 and read verses 1 to 7. Luke chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in their lodgings. So ends the reading of God's Word. Let's pray and ask the Lord's blessing upon His Word even now. Our Heavenly Father, even as we think of the Holy Spirit's work in the conception of the Virgin Mary incarnation that the coming of christ and her birth week do you ask for your spirits work even now that your spirit would work in our hearts giving us uh... hearts of faith hearts that would trust more and more in your word help us to see and understand the great mystery of the incarnation as it's set forth before us in these verses. Do this so that we might be more and more in mind and heart and soul conformed to Christ. Do this for your glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, it's that time of year again. Christmas is upon us. The sights and sounds of the season are everywhere. Nativity scenes in shop windows, twinkling decorations, the carols about shepherds and angels fill the airwaves. These images are all very familiar to us, aren't they? Maybe even a little too familiar. For many, the story of Jesus' birth feels like it belongs alongside other seasonal tales, like Dickens' Christmas Carol, or maybe even stories of Santa Claus and reindeer and elves bringing packages and presents down chimneys. And that's where we need to pause and remember that the birth of Christ is no mere seasonal novelty. It's not given to us, it's not meant to be read and heard and understood as merely a story that stirs up nostalgia or warm sentiments reminding us of our childhood. Rather, the birth of Christ is an historical event, one that radically changed the course of human history forever. Luke's account invites us to push past the seasonal trappings and see this moment for what it truly is. The arrival of the Messiah is the culmination of God's plan to redeem his people. And from the very opening verses of Luke's gospel, he has been setting the stage for this pivotal, momentous event. Every angelic visitation, every miraculous intervention, every miraculous baby that was provided to a barren woman, every prophetic song and word from Elizabeth and Mary and Zachariah, even the leaping of baby John in the womb, all of this has been leading to this point, the birth of the Messiah, And given what we've been told so far in the Gospel of Luke, what kind of Messiah might we be expecting? Well, how is this birth going to occur? What's it going to look like? Well, recall Gabriel's description to Mary. He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Of his kingdom there will be no end. Zechariah sang of how God was raising up a mighty horn of salvation. He even sang how this child would lead Israel in a new exodus, for once again, God will visit his people. Well, what did the exodus look like? The exodus was rather spectacular. There were signs in the sky, pillars of fire, glory clouds. There was the parting of the sea, the destruction of Pharaoh's army. Well, after all of that buildup, What kind of visitation are we expecting of God? Well, we might expect something dignified, something powerful, something head-turning, something extraordinary and powerful, something with pomp and splendor. But instead, what we find is that God visits his people in the most unusual of ways. God the Son takes on human flesh with all of our weaknesses, with all of our limitations, He doesn't descend as a strong and powerful warrior. Instead, he's born as a weak baby, helpless in the manger. His birth is humble. He isn't born in a palace in Rome or even maybe an estate in mighty Jerusalem. Rather, he's born among animals in a small village called Bethlehem. There is no royal sash of purple to enclose him. There is no precious white linen like the rich man in the story of Lazarus to clothe him. Instead, he is clothed in torn strips of linen. Well, this doesn't seem all that spectacular, does it? How is the horn of salvation sleeping among animals? How can the light of the world shine in such darkness and obscurity? Is this really how God is visiting his people? And yet as we look at this with eyes of faith, we see God working all things according to his good and wise purposes. Even this humble birth is all part of God's master plan to save for himself a people. And that's what Luke wants us to see. He wants us to see this so that our faith might be strengthened. Luke tells us four things about Jesus' birth. Four things that I'll phrase as questions. First, when was he born? Second, where was he born? Third, how was he born? And fourth, why was he born? Well, first, when was Jesus born? Now, we might not think that question or answer is all that important. After all, doesn't it matter a lot more how things make me feel rather than things being historical, et cetera? Does it really matter if Luke got this aspect right or wrong? And of course, it does matter. It matters absolutely to our faith. Our faith is not a mere subjective feeling or something we feel to be true in our hearts. No, we believe the content of faith because it is true and it has happened. Luke, the historian, deliberately locates the birth of Jesus in a particular time and in a particular place. At the very beginning of the section, he writes, in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So Luke is very careful to locate the birth of Jesus at a very particular time. This isn't, well, long ago, or a galaxy far, far away. No, this is a specific place and time. And you can go to the witnesses and ask them those questions. You know who the ruler was at that time. It was the time when Caesar Augustus ruled. And that's a significant detail. In chapter one, Luke told us that Herod was king. But now we learn that there is a man who is much, much more powerful than Herod on the throne. Caesar Augustus at this time is the emperor of the Roman Empire. He was formerly known as Octavian. He was the great nephew of Julius Caesar. After Julius Caesar was murdered on the steps of the Senate, Octavian was named as the chief heir, and he ruled alongside two other men, Mark Anthony and Lepidus. Lepidus fell from power in 36 BC, and then that generated a civil war between Antony and Octavian. Ultimately, Octavian won in the battle of Actium and defeated Antony. So with all other contenders vanquished, Octavian was made the emperor of Rome and that's when he received the title Augustus. Augustus means venerable, majestic, august. And at this time, Augustus was really at the height of his power. He was a very strong leader. He was a skilled administrator. And he had brought Rome into a period of great peace and prosperity. It would be hard to overemphasize Augustus' persona. You could travel the lengths and breadth of the Mediterranean world, and everywhere you would find these statues dedicated to Augustus, to his praise. In fact, if you were to put your hands in your pockets and jingle your coins and take one out at random, you would have his face on it. And so he quite literally was a household name. His great uncle, Julius Caesar, probably the Caesar that we know best, Caesar was deified as a god and therefore Augustus was viewed as a son of God. In fact, there is one place where there is an inscription that hails Augustus as the son of God and the savior of the whole world. Well, imagine being a Christian at this time. Imagine living in a land where you had a political leader that had that kind of power and commanded that kind of loyalty. Even the demand that you would worship him as a God among mere mortals. This is the world that Jesus was born into. He was born into a world where someone had already claimed the title Son of God, Savior of the world. Well, in order for Rome to maintain its mighty empire that spanned the known world at the time and to continue to exercise its tyrannic grip on all of these varying diverse populations, they needed money, and a lot of it. And of course, the way they got that money was through taxation. So that's most likely the purpose of this census. Augustus wants his regional governors to get a good number, a good sense of what their population is, so they know how much money to expect and squeeze from the population. They want more money in taxes. And that's the power that Augustus had. All the way from Rome, he could extend his long arm, his mighty arm, and make commands that would affect the lives of ordinary people living in Israel, Palestine. Surely, as non-Romans living under this kind of tyranny and occupation, they felt the weight of that in their everyday life. So far Luke is deliberately setting before us the sovereign power of this august Caesar. He's so powerful that all he has to do is speak a word and people thousands of miles away are sent scurrying, they're set in motion, they have to return to their family homes. But I think Luke does this with a tinge of irony, a tinge of irony that he doesn't want us to miss. Because what at first appears to be a great show of Caesar's power actually proves the supremacy of God's power. Caesar believes that he is in control. But in fact, what Luke shows us is that Caesar's actions are serving to accomplish God's greater purposes. Caesar is unknowingly bringing about God's secret purposes. For Caesar's decree will mean that Mary and Joseph, who otherwise are living happily up in Galilee, will now have to travel all the way down to Bethlehem, where more promises are fulfilled. Mary's song is proving true. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. Beloved, let us be comforted by this fact, that God is sovereign. And just as God's sovereignty ruled over Augustus, so even today, God is sovereign over every ruler, every tyrant, every authority, every government in the world. And no matter how much our government, whether that's Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, whoever, however much it may now or may in the future, who knows, seek to suppress the church and muzzle the proclamation of the gospel. Let us be comforted to know that no matter how much authority it usurps for itself, no matter how august a president or a Supreme Court judge or whoever the case may be, may think they are, there is always one who is more august. There is always one and only one, supreme and sovereign, ultimate ruler ruling over his creation, and that is the Lord our God. That doesn't mean that we should just be unconcerned by tyrants and say, well, God is sovereign. I don't need to do anything because God is sovereign. We should be concerned. We should pray for the overthrow, that they might be overthrown in a right way. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't exercise our civil liberties or seek justice. We should. But it is to say, that even though you may live under the powerful Caesars of this world, and we know very little of that compared to much of the persecuted world, but even should you live under these powerful Caesars, the Caesars, the Herods of this age, you do not need to fret or fear because there is a King who is higher, King Jesus, and his will is never thwarted. Throughout history, there has been many Herods, many Caesars, many Quiriniuses, But there is only one true sovereign, only one truly august one, and that is our God. And scripture says of him that he is seated in the heavens and he does all that he pleases. So in those times when you are tempted to despair, instead let this truth lead you to pray to your king, thy kingdom come, thy will be done. on earth as it is in heaven. Rest your soul in the knowledge that the King of kings rules and reigns over all that is his and he works all things according to the good and perfect purpose of his immutable decree. Well, that's when Jesus was born. Secondly, where was Jesus born? Well, again, we might expect that Jesus was born in Nazareth. After all, that's where Joseph and Mary are living at this point. It's where the angel appeared to her. However, because of the decree of Quirinius sent by Augustus, Mary and Joseph now have to travel to Joseph's hometown. As the head of the house, they travel to this small, obscure town that's probably not even on any maps at the time, a place called Bethlehem. Well, the fact that Joseph is bringing Mary with him tells us that Joseph has not abandoned her despite her unusual pregnancy. We're also reminded by Luke that at this time, Mary and Joseph are not yet married, but they are betrothed. The important takeaway from this is that at this point, they have not consummated their marriage, meaning that Mary is still a virgin, which is important for obvious reasons. So Joseph and Mary hit the road and they head to Bethlehem. What's so significant about Bethlehem? Well, in one sense, as I said, not much really. It was a very small village. It had a population of about 500 people. It's hardly worth calling it a city, let alone a town. Surely, if the Messiah is to be born, it'll be in a large city like Jerusalem, somewhere of significance. And yet the importance of Bethlehem lies not with the externals of what can be seen with the eyes and measured in terms of prestige and glory and honor. Rather, Bethlehem is significant because of what God has promised. Boys and girls, do you remember what we read earlier from the book of Micah and the name of the town that was mentioned, specifically this town, this place where the maiden would give birth? Well, it's Bethlehem. Micah chapter five, verse two. Would you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. So God had spoken all the way back through Micah the prophet that this promised great king would be born in Bethlehem. This ruler will be from of old, the ancient of days. Who is this ruler to be born? Well of course it is the Christ. Bethlehem is also significant because of its connection to King David. Luke calls it the city of David. It's of course where David was born. Luke has already told us that Mary's child would be David's son. The angel had said that God would give to him the throne of his father David. Zechariah said that God would raise up a savior in the house of his servant David. And so in many ways, it's very fitting that Jesus be born here in this place, in Bethlehem, following the lineage of his earthly father Joseph. And again, from this, we see how Caesar is unwittingly fulfilling God's promises. Caesar looks at his great map of the Mediterranean. He sees his legions and all the lands and the peoples he governs and commands. And Palestine is just this tiny little pawn on his chessboard. But in fact, what we see here is that, no, Caesar is the pawn on God's chessboard. God uses Caesar's decree to bring about this fulfillment that he had promised long, long ago. And that's why Luke is writing. Luke is writing that we might have greater assurance and confidence of those things that have been fulfilled among us. Every detail of Jesus' birth, even down to this small and seemingly insignificant detail of the town where he will be born, was foretold centuries before. Luke is inviting us to see how God has faithfully fulfilled his word. You know, this is not just a historical detail, you know, something that's just, well, you know, a necessary evil, maybe for those of us who are less interested in history. No, this is a fact and a truth that is deeply relevant to our faith. God's fulfillment of this promise, that the Savior be born in Bethlehem, is something that ought to encourage your faith, because it shows you that you can trust God, you can trust his promises, and that he will be faithful to them. For if God was faithful to fulfill a prophecy made 700 years earlier, isn't he also faithful to fulfill all of the promises that he's made to you? And so when your faith feels weak, maybe your faith feels weak and you begin to doubt God's love and care for you, remember that He promised a Savior. And that Savior was born exactly where God said He would be. And the same Savior has promised to redeem you, to save you. that you are his and that he watches over you. When your faith is weak, remember God's fulfilled promises. When your faith feels weak and your circumstances seem chaotic and out of control, remember how God used something even as seemingly insignificant. and certainly inconvenient as a Roman census and having to travel all the way back to Bethlehem. He used that to bring Mary and Joseph to the place where the Savior would be born and his promises were fulfilled. Again, what this teaches is that in your life, the details of your life that may at times seem insignificant, that may be very difficult if not inconvenient, are used by God to accomplish his greater purpose in your life. That's why Luke includes these details to remind us that our faith is grounded in history. It's grounded in real events, real promises, and in a real, living, faithful God who keeps his promises. And so, beloved, feast your faith on these fulfilled promises and be strengthened. So Jesus was born in the time of Caesar Augustus. He was born in Bethlehem. Third, Luke tells us how he was born. Luke's account, of course, of Jesus' birth is rather short, it's brief, it's to the point. He tells us in verse six, and while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. So thankfully, not as they were journeying, but when they arrived in Bethlehem, that's the time when Mary gave birth. Now Luke does give us some details as to how Jesus was born, what it was like, the surroundings and such. Now because of nativity scenes and Christmas movies and books and artistic descriptions and the like, it's not uncommon for us to have distorted, even false views of the whole nativity scene and what that looks like. And so it's helpful to put aside our Christmas movies and those images we have stocked and stored in our minds, and to even, yes, put aside our Charlie Brown nativity plays, and instead ask, well, what does the Bible say? What does God's word say about what Jesus' birth was like? Let's derive our understanding from Luke's gospel. And Luke shows us that Jesus had a very humble birth. He had a humble birth. There's a very clear contrast, a juxtaposition, isn't there, between the mighty Caesar who's issuing his royal decrees to his many governors. There he is in Rome in his pomp and splendor and glory. And then you have this newborn king, and it's a striking difference. While one man sits in Rome on a throne in luxury, this newborn king is born among animals and laid in a feeding trough. Look at verse seven. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn or lodgings. The manger Jesus was laid in was a trough used for feeding animals. Again, we're prone to think of maybe this very nice, specially crafted wooden manger with maybe a nice beeswax finish, sharp edges, no splinters, that sort of thing. But even worse than that, this feeding trough could have just been a hole dug in the ground where the animal's food was thrown in and they ate out of. It was that humble of a beginning. But how did they end up there? Well, the ESV says in verse seven that they were there because there was no place for them in the inn. At that time in the world, guest houses and even homes often had a room attached to them where animals were kept. So this room may have been a kind of a little barn stable thing off to the side, jutting out from the house, or it could have been just the ground floor of a two-story building. But what's interesting is that the word which the ESV translates as in can also be translated as lodgings. And in fact, every other time this word is used in the New Testament, it does not refer to an inn or a B&B or something like that. No, it refers simply to staying as a guest in someone's house. For example, this very word is used to describe how Jesus stays as a guest in the house of Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. It's also interesting when the Gospel of Luke does refer to a place that is very specifically an inn, such as in the example of the parable of the Good Samaritan, where the injured man, the wounded man is taken to an inn, a guest house, a different word is used, not this word. And so because of the context and because of the word Luke uses, I and others would conclude that Mary and Joseph are probably not in an inn, but they're at Joseph's family home. Remember, where are they traveling to? They're not traveling to some city they've never been to before. No, they're traveling back to Joseph's hometown. he probably has family there. And so most likely that's where they're staying. They and maybe some of his brothers have had to travel back with their families and now the house is full and the only place that's left for them is this shed or this part of the home where animals were kept. And that is where Jesus, the King of Kings is born. So Jesus' birth is humble. Secondly, Luke also shows us that Jesus' birth was ordinary. It was ordinary. It's kind of sad and ironic how the words of so many Christmas hymns that have the very purpose of maybe defending and presenting the birth of Christ often make his birth out to be something very extraordinary and unusual, even otherworldly. Well, for starters, if Jesus was born at night, it certainly wouldn't have been a silent night. Remember, it was a miraculous conception. That's what we defend as being miraculous. There is a heresy that says that Mary had a miraculous birth, and thus she maintained a perpetual virginity. affirm and believe that her birth of Jesus was very ordinary. He was born as other babies were. And so, as I said, it would not have been a silent night. Whatever silence may have been there, it would have been broken by the cries and grunts and groans of Mary as she labored in childbirth to deliver her precious baby. Nowadays, many mothers have birth plans and put a lot of thought into maybe the environment, the atmosphere, the music, the lighting of when their little one will be born. And certainly that's a very thoughtful and good thing. Imagine what it was like for Mary, having traveled 90 miles, being heavily pregnant, and then for her to stay in these uncomfortable and arguably unsanitary conditions, surrounded by the smell of animals, and manure and straw. And when the baby finally was born, there were no radiant beams shining from his face. If you ever hold a baby and there's radiant beams shining from the baby's face, just drop the baby and run away. They're not supposed to do that. I've had a few of them, I know. No, there weren't radiant beams, but there would have been afterbirth. Jesus was born like any of your babies were born, and like you were born. He came out and it was messy, and he had to be cleaned, and he would come out as babies do, with flailing arms and letting out a little helpless crying. And Joseph, as a new dad, with his calloused carpenter hands, would have held his little baby carefully, trying so carefully not to drop him, but to nest him closely into his arms. He would have had to cut the umbilical cord. And then the baby's wrapped in swaddling cloths, not of royal purple, but just of these meager strips. not to be placed in a crib of nice wood or carefully painted with different animals carved on it chosen by the parents. No, he was placed in a feeding trough. Surely Mary, as a loving and caring mother, would have done everything she could to make sure her baby was safe and comfortable and as clean as possible. But even in that situation, there was little she could do. So Jesus was born in weakness and in poverty. Ladies, perhaps even now some of you are wondering what this must have been like for Mary. Imagine giving birth, not in your home, but in a strange place surrounded by animals. Imagine every gasp of air and every breath you take in that place. Your nose fills with the smell of manure and acrid straw. And then to think of placing your baby in this feeding trough, This would be humble for any one of us. This might be shocking for any ordinary mother and for any ordinary baby. But now consider that this isn't just any baby. No, this is the Lord of the universe. And this is how he chose to come and to visit his people. The ruler of the universe is born in such humble circumstances. He becomes low. He's born without any pomp or ceremony, without any fanfare. Remember, at this time, there are no angels or gifts or anything like that. He's born without comfort. As J.C. Ryle says, it would have been an act of undeserved mercy had he chosen to dwell in a palace with power and great authority. We should have reason enough to wonder, but to become poor as the very poorest of mankind. And lowly is the very lowliest. This is a love that passeth knowledge. And so, beloved, as you look at the incarnation of Christ, as you look at his ordinary but extremely humble birth, Consider that and see that as another sign of His love for you. In Jesus' incarnation, we witness the great love of God in how He was sent to redeem us for Himself, in His willingness to visit us in such weakness and humility and poverty. We must not fail to see His great love for us. He did this for you. The Lord of glory took on weakness that you might be saved. He took on your weakness so that you, the weak one, might be saved. He clothed himself in poverty so that you and him might be made rich. When was he born? In the days of Caesar Augustus. Where was he born? Town of Bethlehem. How was he born? His birth was humble. It was also ordinary. Finally, why was he born? It's an important question. What is the significance of his birth? What does it mean for us? And it's an important question because how we answer this question really determines everything. All sorts of people, of course, have offered different answers for what they think the birth of Jesus means for them. A few years ago, I read a book called American Jesus, How the Son of God Became a National Icon. I'm not recommending the book, by the way. But the author sets out to show how all of the different social, racial, religious groups in the U.S. have adopted Jesus, but they've used Jesus as kind of like an icon or a figure, really, to push their own way of thinking and their own aims and purposes. Some look at this scene of Jesus' birth and they say, oh, what a picture of peace and, you know, silent night, holy night, all is calm. And if only we could all be more like the humble and meek Jesus who, you know, lived his life and never bothered anything or never said anything that anyone ever disagreed with. And he was meek and mild. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we were all like that? And of course, this is how the gospel is reduced to the social gospel Jesus, and the mere morality and moralism kind of Jesus. Others will say that this is the birth of a great prophet, a great teacher of wisdom and philosophy. He can teach us many things, among other prophets and great teachers. Others will say that here is the one who teaches us One nice path of peace among many other paths that will lead us to spiritual fulfillment and happiness and inner peace. But the question that we need to ask is how does Luke present this birth? Luke, after all, is presenting to us a very carefully written account so that we might have certainty concerning those things which we have been taught. How does Luke present Jesus' birth and the reason for his birth, the why question? Well, you see, the answer to that question hinted at in Luke's phrase in verse seven, where he says, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. Now, certainly, since Mary is a virgin, she's never had a husband before and had no children before, this is her first time giving birth. And so, yes, Jesus is her firstborn son. However, this phrase carries much more weight than that. Firstborn in the Bible is less of a description like, well, I'm the middle child, or I'm the only child, or that sort of thing. It's more of a title than a description. And so not surprisingly, it's a title that's often attributed to Jesus. The idea of a firstborn is not so much that he's simply the eldest child, but that he's the firstborn of many others, and what he accomplishes will be for their benefit. For example, in Romans 8, Paul writes how God predestined us so that Christ would be the firstborn among many brothers. Hebrews 2 declares that Christ, who shares in our flesh and blood, is not ashamed to call us brothers. In Colossians 1, Paul calls him the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. Hebrews 12 describes the church as the assembly of the firstborn. So that Christ is the firstborn answers the question of why he was born. Jesus was born. Jesus took to himself a true and full humanity, a true body and a reasonable soul, as our catechism says. In order that, he might be the firstborn of a new race of people. Adam is the firstborn of a fallen race, and all who follow him follow in his fallen image. Remember, Genesis 5, Adam's son, Seth, is born in the image and likeness of his father, Adam. But Christ comes as the second Adam, as the new firstborn of a new people, a people who are now not made solely in the image of Adam, but who are being remade in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ himself. This is why Jesus was born a man. This is why God didn't simply visit us once again in a burning bush, or in a cloud of fire, or simply sending more angels. No, in order to save us from our sins and to bring us to glory, Jesus had to be made like us in every way. The justice of God demands that the same human nature that sinned against him, that same human nature must also suffer and die and pay the penalty of fallen mankind. And this is what we mean by the incarnation. The God of the universe entered into our situation, taking on our limitations. He did this to save us. And he saved us not from a distance, but he came as close as possible, even becoming one of us, that we might be saved. As the church father, Athanasius said, He became what we are that we might become what he is. He became what we are that we might become what he is. In order for us to become what he is, glorified, holy, righteous, he had to become fully man. And he became fully man in every way, except of course for our sin. And then he stood in the place of fallen man to receive our judgment. And Jesus did that. He lived a perfect life in our place, the life that we never could have lived. He died in our place so that we might have peace with God. And therefore, through his death, we have life. Our debt is cleared. And such, he has earned for us the reward of eternal life. That's why the incarnation is so important. That Christ died not as an angel or that a bull died in her place, but that a man died. And Christ the God-man died for us means that you can be forgiven of your sins. That Christ died as a man and was raised to heaven and glorified as a man means that you too will be raised to life as he has been. It means that you forgiven in him will be glorified. even as he is. Jesus' current and present human body and soul in heaven ensures that you, as a human glorified in body and soul, will be in heaven with him. And so friends, this is why Jesus is born. Not to become a moral example for us to be better people, not to be another moral teacher or philosopher, but rather he was born He lived, he died in order to bear the wrath of God for your sin, something that you deserve, so that now, through faith in him, you have peace with God. For as Paul writes, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. And for sinners like us, This truly is good news of great joy. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, something that is a mystery, and yet is a mystery revealed to us even through the Gospels. Help us, Lord, to have greater faith. As the disciples would say to you, increase our faith. or we ask that you would do that. Even this Christmas season, that the goodness, the truth, the clarity of this truth would not be lost among the seasonal novelties of this time. Help us, Lord, to have more love for Christ, the one who gave all, that we might be brought to you in peace and in glory. We pray these things in Jesus' name.