God's Awesome Sovereignty Coinciding With Our Obedience

Now it's the Christmas season. Few understand the meaning behind Christmas. Many think of it as a time of pleasure, where you can go and do what you like, drink and get drunk, and just feel free to do whatever you like.

The hospitals are filled over this period, and many will die at this time. Where people stab each other and kill each other, and they say it's Christmas. People give each other gifts.

Many get their homes prepared, they beautify their homes and their yards, and they are rejoicing, even though they don't really know the reason for the rejoicing. I'd like us then to look at the meaning of Christmas. We'll read from the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, which means God with us.

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son and he gave him the name Jesus. Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in this world.

There is perhaps no holiday as important as this. The heavenly hosts came together, they could not remain silent and they praised God and they declared this message that a son has been born. God created Adam and Eve and soon after he had created them, they fell into sin.

And from that time on, sin has been mankind's prime problem. For thousands of years, mankind has been troubled by sin. And God gave a promise that he would send the Messiah, he would send the Saviour.

And people had waited for many years, even thousands of years before the Messiah came. Our sin is so troublesome. Some become Christians and not long, then they fall back into sin.

But Jesus does not allow us to continue in our sin. He said after you healed some people, don't go back to your sin, let something worse befall you. Some say we just can't help to sin, we are human after all.

But it was said his name would be called Jesus, for he would save his people from their sin. Now there was a virgin, she was a pure young virgin, who brought joy to God. And God said I will enter into her and be born of her and become flesh like man.

One day as she was engaged to Joseph, the angel Gabriel appeared to her. He said blessed are you amongst all the women, you have received grace. Blessed are you amongst all the women, you have received grace.

Blessed are you amongst all the women, you have received grace. Behold you will be with child and you will give birth to a son. And you should call him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sin and he will become great.

And she asked how will it be, for I know no man. He said yes it is so, but God will work in you through his Holy Spirit and you will give birth to this child who will be the Alpha and the Omega. And she said I am the Lord's maid servant, let him do that which pleases him.

That is what it means to surrender yourself totally to the Lord. After some time Joseph received news of the fact that Mary was with child. He got a great shock.

For he had trusted Mary more than any other woman on the face of the earth. He said how is it possible, is it possible that Mary would be unfaithful to me, that she would live immorally. He didn't want to expose her to public disgrace and just bring the matter to the open because in those days if a girl was accused of that, that she had an illegitimate affair, she could even be stoned to death.

And even the man that had that affair with her would also be killed. It's not like today where girls just bring forth a whole string of children at home out of wedlock. And where we even heard these politicians saying that they give them these child support grants.

Well not in the time of Jesus, in those days people that were like that were killed. And Joseph considered what he should do. The Bible says because he was a righteous man he decided not to accuse her publicly.

He had in mind to divorce her quietly. But before he could do that, God revealed himself to him through a dream. And you can say, Lord, you were prepared to identify with my sin, my filth.

Today, I identify with you and your holiness.