Trinity Baptist Church

The Message of Christmas

Hebrews 1:1-14

 

Through this Christmas season we’ve been exploring, rather than the historical side of Christmas, the theology of Christmas; the significance of the coming of Christ rather than the event of His birth. 

 

In many ways it’s hard to separate the two because they are inextricably linked.  The theology finds its significance in the actual.  If Christ had not physically entered this world, we would have no theology.  And yet, His physical presence on the earth is dependent upon the theology that prompted God to wend Him. 

 

It is what 1 Timothy 3:16 calls the “mystery of Godliness”, and without argument it is a great mystery that God appeared in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. 

 

To help us see the significance of that, we’ve looked at John 1 where we saw that Christmas is Heaven’s Idea.  It originated with God. 

 

Then from Philippians 2, we traveled with Christ as He made the first journey of Christmas.  He traveled from heaven to earth to be born into this world.  That journey took him, by way of the cross all the way back to the exaltation of heaven. 

 

Then, last week we discovered the secret of Christmas in Colossians 1.  What God did was not just appear on the earth for a brief time, but He desires to live within us as the hope of glory. 

Today, I want to invite your attention to Hebrews 1, and I want to turn our thoughts toward the message of Christmas.

 

One of the terms we hear a lot at Christmas is ”Christmas cheer”.  It’s used to refer to any number of holiday happenings. It might be giving gifts or singing carols or drinking alcohol or any other ingredient of our celebrations. 

 

Do an internet search on Christmas cheer and the hits are almost limitless:

 

 

But the real message of Christmas Cheer is found in the coming of Christ.  According to Luke 2:10, the angel who announced the Jesus’ birth to the shepherds said, “I bring good tidings of great joy for everyone!”

 

That is the original Christmas cheer!   

 

Now here in Bible we find this book called Hebrews. It was written about 30-35 years after Jesus was on the earth.  And the recipients of this letter were living in the midst of chaos. Specifically, their lives were being shaken by persecution and all the heartache and headaches associated with it. They were discouraged and disillusioned.

In fact, they had been thinking about turning back, turning back to their old way of living, turning back to their former religious practices.

 

All of us have entertained ideas of turning back. We’ve all faced the temptation to be dejected, depressed, pessimistic and hopeless. That’s because we all face chaos in our lives. Sometimes life is confusing. Sometimes life seems disorganized. Not always, but sometimes.

 

By the way, when we are experiencing those times, it is always a good time to readjust our focus in life and get our eyes on the Lord.  That’s the key to finding calm in the chaos.

 

If I want to find calm in my chaos I’ve got to consistently focus my faith on Christ. That’s a great theme for the Christmas season and one of the reasons it’s such a great time of year. One of the reasons the season is so joyous is because it’s all about Jesus and how God became man. When I give more attention to Jesus and concentrate less on the chaos in my life – I have more joy.

 

But the original readers of the Hebrew letter weren’t joyful. They were being persecuted for following Christ. Their old Jewish friends and family didn’t like it because they left their old religion. And the Romans didn’t like Christians because they worshipped only one God. The Romans worshipped scores of gods.

 

 So the Jewish Christians were criticized, ostracized, and terrorized by Jews and Gentiles alike. They lived a hard life so they were tempted to turn back.

They had been entertaining thoughts of giving up on their Christian faith.

 

And the letter of Hebrews was written to encourage them (and us) to keep on following Christ, to find calm in our chaos. So how do we do it? 

 

I would be safe in saying that in this room alone today are those who have stress at work, relationship troubles, money woes, physical ailments, grief, loss, hurt, pain, sorrow, and only God knows what else. 

 

I would venture to say there are so who are tired of being sick and tired, who are tempted to give up trying.  Sometimes life is so chaotic we want to run and hide and retreat from the battle.

 

Or I may want to build walls to protect myself. Chaos can make me so disillusioned that I become angry or fearful or judgmental or irritable. Sometimes I say and do stupid, self-destructive things when the chaos of life overwhelms me. Chaos explains a lot of bad behavior. I’m not saying it excuses our bad behavior but it does partially explain it. People don’t know the right thing to do or they are afraid that doing the right thing isn’t worth it so they do the wrong things. So they turn back.

 

And perhaps the greatest enticement to turning back is the fact that we sometimes feel alienated from God. “God, why are you letting me face these disappointments in my life? Don’t you care about me?” Of course God cares.

 

So how can we cheer up?  How can we have Christmas cheer?

How can I cheer up? How do I find the grace and the understanding and the courage to go forward even when I feel like turning back?

 

That’s what the letter to the Hebrews is all about. And this morning I want to turn your attention to the opening verses and see how this letter of encouragement begins because what it shares with us is the message of Christmas.  

 

Hebrews 1:1-4

 

Notice that phrase in verse 2, “He has now spoken to us through His Son”  That is the essence of Christmas. Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and miraculously born to a virgin named Mary because God wanted to speak to us IN PERSON! Have you ever had a message so vitally important that you had to deliver it in person?

 

That’s what God did by sending Jesus! God speaking to us through His Son is what Christmas is all about!

 

But unfortunately, many never make the connection between this truth and the chaos of their life.  After all, what does Jesus being born 2,000 years ago have to do with my life today?

 

Here’s what:  Because of the Son coming into the world as a baby born in a stable, and using an animal feeding trough for His cradle, because the wealth of heaven was lavished on us poor sinners, because God became man through the miracle of the virgin birth, because Jesus allowed Himself to take on flesh and bones and have blood vessels and lungs and ears and hair follicles, it is now possible for God to speak to you and me in person!

Now dwell on that for a moment.  One of the things about Christmas that ought to cheer us up is

 

1. God Wants to Speak to Me in Person!

 

You may know some people who won’t speak to you or some people that you’d like to speak to but you’ll never get the chance – but God isn’t one of them. Jesus became human so that God could speak to other human beings in person. You may object, “But Jesus isn’t still here on earth in person.” Yes He is! He is here in the Person of the Holy Spirit! When He went back to heaven He sent His Holy Spirit who is still speaking to people today!

 

God is a speaking God. He’s a communicative God. He’s not quiet or silent or still. He isn’t reserved, aloof, distant, cold, secretive, impersonal, undemonstrative and standoffish. If that’s the picture you’ve had of God then you’ve misunderstood Him!

 

Man’s problem is not that God isn’t speaking. Our problem is that we haven’t been listening!

 

The writer of Hebrews reminds his readers that God spoke through the ministry of the prophets and He spoke through the ministry of angels. These messages from God have been codified in the Bible.

 

These Jewish converts to Christianity who were the initial recipients of this great letter to the Hebrews were very familiar with the ministry of prophets and angels. The history of the Jews is a miraculous history of a God speaking to His people.

God didn’t create the world and then spin it like a top and let it go. He stayed involved. He spoke. He’s a speaking God.

 

Chapter one of Hebrews talks about how God spoke and the world was created. In Genesis chapter one the Bible says, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. (Genesis 1:3) “God said, ‘Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of heaven and the waters of earth…” (Gen. 1:6) “God said, ‘Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” (Gen. 1:9) Eight times in Genesis one the Bible says “God said,” and then something was created.

 

And here in Hebrews chapter one the Bible says that Jesus was the Creator along with the Father! Look again at the last part of verse 2 – “through the Son he created the universe.” We have heard that theme resurface every week in this series of message. 

 

Remember what we read in John 1:3 

 

“All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.” John 1:3 (Amp)

 

The Jews knew this. They knew that God had spoken in creation and that He had spoken throughout their history. But the thing they had forgotten - the thing you and I sometimes forget when our lives get out of control is that God is not just a God who communicates through His messengers like the prophets and the angels. He is a God who came Himself, in person, to talk to us!

 

Why would the Jewish Christians want to turn back to a religion that was disseminated by prophets and angels, by intermediaries, when God was now communicating with them directly in Jesus who is God Himself!? That we be like going back to riding a tricycle after I got my driver’s license.

 

The writer of the Hebrew letter was trying to get them to see the utter foolishness of their desire to turn back. It’s always ridiculous to turn back once you know Jesus! Always!

 

Like Simon Peter said, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.” John 6:68 (NLT)

 

It ought to cheer every one of us up to know that God wants to speak to us personally!

 

He wants to speak to us personally even in our chaos, even in the midst of our messed up lives. So He sent His Son Jesus, and as I said earlier, when Jesus finished His work here on earth, He sent His Holy Spirit to speak to each one of us.

 

It’s marvelous how God can speak to our hearts. It may be through a sermon or a song, it may be through circumstances or through a family member or friend or co-worker, and of course He always speaks in His word, the Bible.

 

God is speaking and if you will listen He wants to talk to you. Getting people to listen to God is one of the great themes of the letter to the Hebrews. When I don’t listen to God I make all sorts of wrong choices in my life.

 

One of the most remarkable stories of God speaking to someone I’ve read comes from a prayer letter from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

 

“There was a woman in an African nation who came to Christ and grew in her commitment and devotion to the Lord. As often happens, however, this alienated her from her unchurched husband, and over the years he grew to despise and hate her new devotion to Christ.

 

“His anger and bitterness reached their climax when he decided to kill his wife, their two children and himself, unable to live in such self-inflicted misery any longer. (Apparently God was speaking to him through his wife’s life but he didn’t want to listen so he wanted to silence God’s voice by committing murder/suicide.)

 

But he needed a motive. He decided he would accuse her of stealing his precious keys. The keys were to the bank where he worked, the house, and the car. Early one afternoon he left his bank and headed for the tavern. His route took him across a footbridge that extended over the headwaters of the Nile River. He paused above the river and dropped the keys. Then he spent much of the afternoon drinking and carousing.

 

“Later that afternoon, his wife went to the fish market to buy the evening meal. She purchased a large Nile perch. As she was gutting the fish, to her astonishment, in it’s belly were her husband’s keys. How had they gotten there? What were the circumstances? She didn’t know; but she cleaned them up and hung them on the hook on which they belonged.

“Sufficiently drunk, the young banker came home that night and pounded open the front door shouting, “Woman, where are my keys?” Already in bed, she got up, picked them off the hook in the bedroom, and handed them to her husband.

 

When he saw the keys, he later said, he became sober and made an instant faith commitment to Christ. He fell on his knees sobbing, asked for forgiveness, and confessed Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.”

 

God is speaking! He’s speaking to each one of us. Not in an audible voice, but He has spoken to us in His Son and He’s speaking today by His Holy Spirit. Let that cheer you up!

 

God wants to talk to me! To me! If your favorite sports or entertainment celebrity wanted to talk to you – you’d think, “Wow! I must be really special!” You are! You’re so special that the most important person in the universe wants to talk to you! If you want calm in your chaos all you have to do is listen to Him!

 

Never lose sight of the fact that God wants to speak to you personally.  But that’s not all.

 

The Message of Christmas is that God, not only wants to speak to me personally,

 

2. God will be Speaking to Me Forever!

 

Verses 4-9

 

Zero in on verse 8

 

You can turn to, or turn back to, anything you want in this life to try and find calm in your chaos. You can turn to material things and get all the satisfaction they bring. But material things aren’t going to last forever.

 

You can turn to a life of pleasure seeking and the various highs that are out there to be had. But highs don’t last. You can turn to various people. But people leave you through changes in life and through death. You can turn to a job. But manufacturing plants shut down and businesses close their doors.

 

Christ is king today and He’s going to be king forever! That’s security! Jobs aren’t always secure. Relationships sometimes crumble or someone we love dies. Money goes only so far and there’s always the chance of something unexpected occurring. But Jesus is always going to be King!

 

If you love Jesus and serve Jesus that ought to cheer you up! Focus on your eternal King and you will be cheered up!

 

Don’t look at all the angels that showed up that first Christmas. Christmas isn’t about the angels! It’s about the King! Angels are messengers. Preachers and prophets are messengers. Jesus is God’s message to you and me that He loves us and longs for us to have a personal friendship with Him and He wants to give us eternal life.

!

The recipients of the Hebrew letter were thinking about turning back to the messengers - the angels and the prophets - and the writer of the letter reminds them to focus on the message. Jesus is the message that will never become outdated!

A mail carrier tragically lost his wife in an accident just a few weeks before Christmas. He was overcome with grief. Right before Christmas he was working late in the post office and he was sorting letters that had been written to Santa Claus. He saw a letter with his own home address on it. He opened it up and it was signed by his only daughter. Here's what she wrote. "Dear Santa, My mommy died two months ago. Since then my daddy has been crying himself to sleep at night. He says only eternity will heal him. Will you please send a little bit of eternity to my dad this Christmas?"

 

In the midst of all of the celebrations of Christmas, could it be that what you need is a little bit of eternity this Christmas. Romans 6, verse 23, says, "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

 

Listen:  Jesus is God’s Message.  It’s for your personally, and it is the message of eternity and eternal life. 

 

And then think about his: 

 

3. His Message will Never Change!

 

Verses 10-14

 

I like that phrase in verse 12, “…you are always the same; you will live forever.”

 

Some people on this planet say one thing to you one day and a totally different thing to you the next. That can be very frustrating. That leads to a lot of chaos. But Jesus is always the same!

 

We live in a world full of uncertainties. If you concentrated solely on all of the things that are unstable in this world you wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. This world is chaotic.

 

Is there anything we can hold on to? Thank God there is! God never changes and His message to us will never change! He will never stop speaking to an individual that is willing to listen! That’s the only solid source of calm in the chaos for any of us!

 

Perhaps you want to hear God for yourself today. You want to experience Him speaking directly to you. You need the calm that only He can bring to your spirit, heart, and mind.

 

Maybe there’s some chaos in your life right now and you need to hear God speak to you in the worst way. Lately your life has felt disorganized and confusing. You’ve been uneasy and unsettled. The chaos has gotten to you. You’re sitting in this room this morning and you know deep down inside that you need to hear from God. God wants you to hear from Him. That’s why He sent Jesus that first Christmas.

 

Back in the 1950’s, Guidepost magazine printed a little short story written by Elizabeth English that I would like to share with you as we close:

 

Herman and I finally locked our store and dragged ourselves home to South Caldwell Street. It was 11:00 p.m., Christmas Eve of 1949. We were dog-tired.

 

 

 

 

Ours was one of those big, old general appliance stores that sold everything from refrigerators and toasters and record players to bicycles and dollhouses and games. We’d sold almost all our toys; and all the layaways, except one package, had been picked up.

 

Usually Herman and I kept the store open until everything had been picked up. We knew we wouldn’t have awakened very happy on Christmas morning knowing that some little child’s gift was back on the layaway shelf. But the person who had put a dollar down on that package never appeared.

 

Early Christmas morning our 12-year-old son, Tom, and Herman and I were out by the tree opening up gifts. But I’ll tell you there was something very humdrum about this Christmas. Tom was growing up; he hadn’t wanted any toys—just clothes and games. I missed his childish exuberance of past years.

 

As soon as breakfast was over, Tom left to visit his friend next door. And Herman disappeared into the bedroom, mumbling, “I’m going back to sleep. There’s nothing left to stay up for anyway.”

 

So there I was, alone, doing the dishes and feeling very let down. It was nearly 9:00, and sleet mixed with snow cut the air outside. The wind rattled our windows, and I felt grateful for the warmth of the apartment. Sure glad I don’t have to go out on a day like today, I thought to myself, picking up the wrappings and ribbons strewn around the living room.

 

And then it began. Something I’d never experienced before; a strange, persistent urge. “Go to the store,” it seemed to say.

 

I looked at the icy sidewalk outside. That’s crazy, I said to myself. I tried dismissing the thought, but it wouldn’t leave me alone. Go to the store.

 

Well, I wasn’t going to go. I’d never gone to the store on Christmas Day in all the 10 years we’d owned it. No one opened shop on that day. There wasn’t any reason to go, I didn’t want to, and I wasn’t going to.

 

For an hour I fought that strange feeling. Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer, and I got dressed.

 

“Herman,” I said, feeling silly, “I think I’ll walk down to the store.”

 

Herman woke up with a start. “Whatever for? What are you going to do there?”

 

“Oh, I don’t know,” I replied lamely. “There’s not much to do here, I just think I’ll wander down.”

 

He argued against it a little, but I told him that I’d be back soon. “Well, go on,” he grumped, “but I don’t see any reason for it.”

 

I put on my gray wool coat and a gray tam on my head, then my galoshes and my red scarf and gloves. Once outside, none of these garments seemed to help. The wind cut right through me and the sleet stung my cheeks. I groped my way along the mile down to 117 East Park Avenue, slipping and sliding all the way.

I shivered, and tucked my hands inside the pockets of my coat to keep them from freezing. I felt ridiculous. I had no business being out in that bitter chill.

 

There was the store just ahead. The sign announced Radio-Electronics Sales and Service, and the big glass windows jutted out onto the sidewalk. But—What in the world? In front of the store stood two little boys, huddled together, one about 9, and the other 6.

 

“Here she comes!” yelled the older one. He had his arm around the younger. “See, I told you she would come!” he said jubilantly.

 

The two little children were half frozen. The younger one’s face was wet with tears, but when he saw me, his eyes opened wide and his sobbing stopped.

 

“What are you two children doing out here in this freezing rain?” I scolded, hurrying them into the store and turning up the heat. “You should be at home on a day like this!” They were poorly dressed. They had no hats or gloves, and their shoes barely held together. I rubbed their small, icy hands and got them up close to the heater.

 

We’ve been waiting for you,” replied the older. They had been standing outside since 9:00, the time I normally open the store.

 

“Why were you waiting for me?” I asked, astonished.

 

“My little brother, Jimmy, didn’t get any Christmas.” He touched Jimmy’s shoulder. “We want to buy some skates. That’s what he wants. We have these $3. See, Miss Lady,” he said, pulling the money from his pocket.

 

I looked at the dollars in his hand. I looked at their expectant faces. And then I looked around the store. “I’m sorry,” I said, “but we’ve sold almost everything. We have no skates—” Then my eye caught sight of the layaway shelf with its one lone package. I tried to remember what was in it . . .

 

“Wait a minute,” I told the boys. I walked over, picked up the package, unwrapped it, and, miracles of miracles, there was a pair of skates!

 

Jimmy reached for them. Lord , I said silently, let them be his size.

 

And miracle added upon miracle, they were his size.

 

When the older boy finished tying the laces on Jimmy’s right foot and saw that the skate fit —perfectly —he stood up and presented the dollars to me.

 

“No, I’m not going to take your money,” I told him. I couldn’t take his money. “I want you to have these skates, and I want you to use your money to get some gloves for your hands.”

 

The two boys just blinked at first. Then their eyes became like saucers, and their grins stretched wide when they understood I was giving them the skates, and I didn’t want their $3.

 

What I saw in Jimmy’s eyes was like a blessing. It was pure joy, and it was beautiful. My low spirits rose.

 

After the children had warmed up, I turned down the heater, and we walked out together. As I locked the door, I turned to the older brother and said, “How lucky that I happened to come along when I did. If you’d stood there much longer, you’d have frozen.

 

But how did you boys know I would come?”

 

I wasn’t prepared for his reply. His gaze was steady, and he answered me softly. “I knew you would come,” he said. “I asked Jesus to send you.”

 

The tingles in my spine weren’t from the cold. God had planned this.

 

As we waved good-bye, I turned home to a brighter Christmas than I had left. Tom brought his friend over to our house. Herman got out of bed, and his father, “Papa” English, and sister, Ella, came by. We had a wonderful dinner and a wonderful time.

 

But the one thing that made that Christmas really wonderful was the one thing that makes every Christmas wonderful: Jesus was there.

 

And that dear friend is the message of Christmas. 

 

Jesus is here, and He is speaking, and He’ll be with you forever and He’ll never change.

 

Let’s bow our heads together for prayer.