Class Notes: 12/24/2017

John 3:16 Luke 2:7; God's greatest Gift Christmas Special

Youtube video: https://youtu.be/-5xsCceibkU

God's Indescribable Gift as seen in Luke's Account of the First Christmas
2 Cor 9:15; Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.

Christmas is the celebration of the time in history when God stepped out of heaven in the person of Jesus, and became a member of the human race. Heb 10:5 ; Phil 2:5-8;

Gal 4:4;NET ...At the right time, God sent his son... named Jesus. Luke 1:31;

A child would come from the Nation of Israel, from the tribe of Judah, Gen 49:10;

The genealogy of Jesus. Luk 3:23-34; Luk 3:33-34; Heb 7:14;

He would be born in Bethlehem Mic 5:2-4; >>>>> Matt 2:2-6 ;

The one who was before all things John 1:1; Col 1:17 became Incarnate John 1:14; Col 2:8;

He was born from a Virgin. Isa 7:14; >>>> Luke 1:35; Matt 1:18-23 ;

He was born to die. John 12:27; Heb 2:9; Heb 2:14; as a substitute for the sins of all mankind. Rom 5:8; 1John 2:2; 2Cor 5:21;

Luke 2:7; And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Net note 20

After the birth of the true humanity of Jesus his parents took Him and performed a practice that common in the first century. Babies were wrapped in strips of cloth not only for their protection but also for the purpose of keeping their limbs straight.

The word describing how our Lord was wrapped is the aorist active indicative of the verb ( σπαργανόω sparganoo ) that was originally used as a medical term by Hippocrates, a fifth-century B.C. physician who is recognized as the Father of Medicine. It means to “wrap with strips of cloth.”

It was the same wrapping process that was used to prepare his corpse for burial. John 19:40;.
After wrapping him, Mary laid him in a manger. The Greek word (φάτνη phatne) is translated manger or feeding trough.

They were in a stable “because there was no room in the inn.”There was no room because many people were traveling to their native cities in order to register for the Roman census. Luke 2:1-5;

The census ordered by Augustus Caesar forced everyone in the Roman Empire to travel to the community of their birth so taxes could be levied. Bethlehem was a small community that had a limited number of rooms available for travelers.

Joseph and Mary who had a house in Nazareth about 100 miles away were unable to obtain a hotel room in Bethlehem because everyone was traveling and they most likely felt blessed to have access to the shelter of a stable rather than having to have Mary give birth outdoors or in a tent.

The fact that there was "no room" corresponds perfectly with the fact that there is never any room for God, Jesus or God's Word of truth in the devil's world.

That night Mary delivered the biological life of the Messiah on the first Christmas of human history. In that setting and the circumstances it offered, we see a number of signs and messages that relate to Jesus' future work on the cross.

Our Lord was wrapped in clothes that were used to prepare a person for burial. Jesus was born to die. Rev 13:8; KJV

He was to die a spiritual death as our substitutionary sacrifice on the cross and then he would subsequently dismiss His spirit and die physically because His sacrifice for the sins of the human race was completed. John 19:30;

Three days and three nights later His humanity would be resurrected. In resurrection body He would become the First Fruit of our resurrection.... the resurrection of the church... the Royal Family of God 1Thes 4:14-17. (first class condition of "if" in verse 14) "If we believe and we do...."

As the Baby Jesus lay in a feeding trough a wooden box crafted by a carpenter, the trade that He would be taught by His stepfather, Joseph surrounded Him.

He would be nailed to a cross of wood and die for for the sins of the entire human race.

His physical body was perfect, having no genetically formed sin nature and therefore no imputation of Adam's original sin at birth, as a result, Jesus was born qualified to be the Savior of the world.

He was born the Last Adam; as perfect humanity in the same manner that He had created Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Lying in that wooden feeding trough was the greatest Christmas gift ever given. It was the best gift God the Father could give to the entire human race because it was the only gift that could deliver mankind from their destiny of death.

It was the product of perfect righteousness, justice and love that was expressed through perfect grace. John 3:16 ;Eph 2:8-9;

This is the reason for the season. Our gift giving to others at Christmas should reflect our attitude of gratitude for God's act of grace that can't be adequately put into words. 2Cor 9:15;

Luke 2:7; - No pretty wrapping paper with glossy bows and sparkling stickers; no stately tree lush with limbs studded by glimmering lights. Instead, a unique Child on a mission to die wrapped in burial clothes and lying in a wooden feeding trough.

This stable and its residents are about to become the focus of the most unique military salute to a commanding Officer in all of human history because heaven and earth are about to unite in to pay homage to the God of the Universe as He takes on his unglorified humanity in hypostatic union.

Luke 2:8; In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

A thousand years before this night in these very same fields David tended the flocks of sheep. David would later become the king of Israel and become the standard of reference for every other Jewish king. Acts 13:22;

Jesus the Great Shepherd would enter this world through the house and family of David in order to save the lost sheep of the nation of Israel and the entire human race.

David had tended his father's sheep in those same fields where the shepherds were watching the flocks that night. These shepherds were known as "temple shepherds."

They tended the flocks that the priests had selected as being "without spot and without blemish." These sheep were used in the Levitical offerings that were conducted daily in the temple in Jerusalem.

For millennia lambs had been used to portray the salvation work of the Messiah on the cross through the ritual of offerings initially through the Patriarchal offerings (Gen 3:19;) followed by the Levitical offerings. Heb 10:8-9;

Luke 2:9; And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

It is night in Judea and the shepherds are concentrating on watching the sheep.... and Suddenly without warning, an angel appears, accompanied by the brightness of the Glory of God.

Luke 2:10-11; But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

v11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

After commanding the shepherds to stop being afraid, the first thing he tells them is that the source of true happiness for the human race ..."I bring you good news of great happiness." The only way a person can ever know real happiness is by knowing the Messiah.

The angel then identifies the Source of this happiness in crystal-clear terms, "This day there has been born in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord."

The word translated "Christ" is (Χριστός Christos,) the Greek translation of the Hebrew word, Messiah that means anointed. (Christ =anointed)

The shepherds understood the meaning of the message and are then told by the angel where they can find Him.

Luke 2:12; “This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

This sign is for your benefit: you will find a Baby having been wrapped in burial clothes and lying in a feeding trough.

This Baby has just been identified by the angel as the Messiah. The Kinsman-Redeemer is born. He is undiminished deity and true humanity in one Person forever.

These shepherds instantly understood that the one that the lambs without spot and without blemish represented was now in human form. The lambs of the flocks they tended had that same description since they were also without spot or blemish.

The true Lamb of God who was pictured by these lambs was in Bethlehem wrapped in burial clothes. Jesus Christ the Messiah is born. He is born to die as a sin substitute for the entire human race.

Luke 2:13; And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,...

As the angel completes his briefing of the shepherds an angelic army group that has formed up over the pastures south of Bethlehem suddenly joins him.


The undiminished deity of the Messiah is the Lord of the Angelic Armies. The Commander in Chief is now on a special mission that when finished, will resolve the Angelic Conflict and change human history forever.

As God's operation of Redemption and Reconciliation gets underway, the angelic army group pays tribute to their eternal Leader by performing a pass and review. They assemble over the sheep fields south of Bethlehem and then fly past the stable where the Lord Jesus Christ their Commander is bivouacked.

Luke 2:14; “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

God is pleased with those who believe that Jesus, is the Messiah, the Son of God. Those who have tranquility of soul are those who have metabolized Bible Doctrine in their stream of consciousness. Isa 26:3; John 14:27; Phil 4;7;

Luke 2:15-18; When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

v16 So they came hurriedly, searched for and found Mary and Joseph and the Baby as He lay in the feeding trough.

v17 And when they had seen Him they made known the doctrine that had been told them about this Child.

v18 And all who heard it were astounded at what the shepherds kept on telling them.

The shepherds were spreading the Gospel of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and many responded to their message of good news and those who believe it have great happiness.

God gave the first Christmas present on that first Christmas when He gave the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in his impeccable true humanity to resolve the problem that Adam had created with His original sin. Rom 6:23;
1Cor 15:22;

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. 2Cor 9:15;

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