“But
as for you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the
days of eternity…”
(Micah 5:2 NASB)
December
10, 2016
I have always found
it interesting that the Christmas story in Matthew actually begins with His
geneology. “The book of the geneology of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the
son of Abraham…” (Matthew 1:1). I was recently
working on my own family geneology and was amazed as I considered all those who came
before me, in order to get to me. Who were these people, and what did they have
to go through, in making me the unique person I am today? Some were born in
France, others Ireland, England and many in Quebec. One woman was from the nobility
in Canada and was disowned for marrying a commoner, etc. All had their own
unique story and place in my history.
The genealogy of
Jesus Christ is different, however. For, though Matthew’s version of it (Matt
chpt 1) traces him back to prove he is the son of Abraham & David --and thus in line to be the
rightful Messiah, Luke’s version of His genealogy (Luke chptr 3) actually traces Him all the way
back to Adam, and declares Him the Son of God. So, who
we are from is important. Where we
are from also makes us who we are as well. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The same
Bethlehem-Ephrathah that Micah told us was the ‘runt’ of the clans of Judah. I
like that. God has often chosen the ‘runts’ of the world to accomplish his
purposes—those whom others consider not even worth mentioning—who they may even
want to disown for being different. When
the prophet Nathan was sent to anoint the new King of Israel, David’s father
and brothers were so sure he didn’t matter, that they did not even call him in
from caring for the sheep, for the ceremony.
You can imagine their surprise then when it turned out God wanted ‘the
runt’ of the lot to rule over them—over all Israel!! So when the Christmas
story tells us that Jesus was ‘born in Bethlehem’, it is telling us, that God
has once again chosen the runt—that Jesus deliberately became the runt among
His own people, Israel, to come to the world and make all men know they matter
with God! No one is insignificant to Him. We are all desired by Him!
Hallelujah!
But who we are, and
where we are from, is not the most important thing about us; nor is our
occupation, regardless how lofty a position we may hold. Nicodemus, was the
head Rabbi/teacher of all Israel when he was told by Jesus what the most important
thing was for a man, as he approached Christ secretly by night to inquire of
Him. Jesus told him the real secret of Christmas, the real secret of a successful
and fulfilling life: “You must be born again.” Nicodemus responded much like
you probably are—“what do you mean by that? How can one be born a second time?”
Jesus explained that, there is a spiritual birth a man must have
before he not only understands spiritual things, but also before He can be
received into heaven. For, just as the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary, his
mother, and brought Him to her womb, so too, must the Holy Spirit come upon our
own hearts and bring forth a new birth within us—that Christ must be formed within
us, be ‘born’ in us, creating us as ‘new creatures’ (2 Cor 5:17). Paul tells
us in Colossians 1:26-27 that this is “the mystery which has been hidden from
the past ages and generations; but has now been made manifest to His saints, to
whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the Glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles—which is: CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory!”
This is the most
important thing about a man—has he been born again? Has he received the very
Life of Jesus Christ within his heart, and been born of the Holy Spirit? Not, ‘is
he a member of the Church’; nor ‘is he a Bible teacher’---for Nicodemus was all
of those things already; in fact was he was the CHIEF of those things in Israel---yet
Jesus told him that it was simply not enough….Jesus told him “You MUST be born again!” It wasn’t
optional. It was the only way back to reconciliation with
God the Father; that way which our father Adam had lost for all of us when he
fell in Eden. But God had sent His Son Jesus to Bethlehem, and then to Calvary,
to provide the way for us to return to Him—to provide the way to restore us to
Himself, and the glories of heaven. . . Christmas is about Jesus being born the
first time in Bethlehem. But it is also about His coming to provide the way for
our own second birth-- into His Kingdom.
So this Christmas I
tell you a mystery---a secret that most will never understand---you must be
born again, you CAN be born again!!—and I ask you---have you been ‘born again’?? There is nothing a man can do to make
such a birth happen, any more than he did the first time he was born. “The wind
blows where it will” Jesus told us. We can no more control the Holy Spirit than
we can the wind. We must wait upon His coming—watch for Him, long for Him—but do
so expectantly---knowing He will indeed come to us in His own time. What we must
do while we wait is humble ourselves before Him; admit we are not worthy to receive
His pure life within us—admit we do not deserve to be a part of his
people---yet tell Him we do long to be restored to Him. We must confess our
sinfulness to Him, and cry out for the deliverance that Jesus died to bring to
us…Call upon the Holy Spirit to come into your heart this Christmas, and give
you the New Life that Christ died to bring to you. Call upon Him; Cry out to
Him, and do not give up until you can truly say in all sincerity that he has
indeed had mercy on your soul and been born in you!
YOU are meant to be the ‘Little Town
of Bethlehem’; the runt that God does not want to overlook, or cast out. The
original hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem” had 10 verses. (see below for the
link to all 10 verses) However verses 6
& 9 especially make my point this Christmas. I pray you will indeed ‘receive’
the gift that God has sent you this Christmas, and be born again. No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive Him
Still the dear Christ enters in….
O Holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today!
Here is the link to the 10 original verses… and Merry Christmas!! Joann
http://www.songlyrics.com/traditional/o-little-town-of-bethlehem-lyrics/
