(A good story to rehearse any time of the year)

What is the Christmas story? Is it really just a baby in a manger, or a baby plus angels, shepherds, and wise men? Is that really the whole story, or is there more? Is Christmas really even a story at all, or is it just an event in a bigger story, and if so, what is the rest of the story?

OUTLINE

It’s easy to slip into a superficial understanding where “Christmas” simply equals “baby in a manger.”

What we call “The Christmas Story” usually equals an angel, Mary, shepherds, “good tidings of great joy,” ( Luke 2:8-14), and maybe some wise men.

Christmas is Not Really a Story

A story requires a beginning, middle, and end, where the beginning contains the impetus that is the reason for the events that follow, then the events, then a culmination of events in resolution of the cause of the events.

The so-called Christmas story does not have an impetus or a resolution.

Matthew 1:22:23 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:

23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Genesis 22:18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “AND TO YOUR SEED,” who is Christ.

The Impetus

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Man Had Life, Blessing, and Dominion

Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.

Man Fell Into Death, Curse, and Bondage

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

This is the impetus – man’s loss of life, blessing, and dominion, and God announcing His plan to get it all back. That sets in motion all the events that follow from Genesis to Revelation.

Working Forward From the Impetus to Christmas

The Old Testament contains prophecies, promises, types, and shadows of God’s restoration plan.

The New Testament contains the fulfillment of the prophecies, promises, types, and shadows.

Isaiah 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Working Forward From Christmas to the Resolution

Christmas – Got the promised Savior into the world.

Death on the Cross

Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Resurrection – Restores us to life.

1 Corinthians 15:21-22 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

Blessing – Galatians 3:13-14 tells us “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law… that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus.”

Dominion

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Matthew 28:18-19 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 Go therefore…

Mark 16:17-18 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;

18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

The Story isn’t Finished

Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,

19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

The End

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Acts 3:20-21 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before,

21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end,

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

Christmas is not a story – it is an event in a story.

We cannot appreciate Christmas except to degree we understand the story it is part of.