Week 2

Christ’s birth changed the entire course of history. We even separate history according to Jesus’ birth (B.C. to A.D.)! Jesus changed the world by entering history as the God-man, and He can change our lives as well.

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ONE SIZE FITS ALL

Christmas is about someone who came for everyone

 “The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances.” Robert Flatt

The way we date history isn’t the only thing that changed when Jesus entered the story of mankind.  The way we value people changed too!  We know that in the ancient world, as far as we have recorded history, a person’s worth was determined by a lot of circumstances.  Your value was determined by your gender, virginity, physical features, nobility status, financial status, or political status.  You may be thinking, “That still happens today”.  I agree with you, but much of that still happens today because sin is still a factor, causing imperfect people to continue in their ways.  Though some things haven’t changed, much has.  All you need to do is look to a Church.

No Church is perfect because churches are groups that are made up of imperfect people.  But no one can deny what Jesus’ church has done to how we view me and you!  What changed everything is that Jesus’ life showed us how God views us.  The value of any human being is now based on the price that our Heavenly Father paid to rescue them: the blood of His one and only Son.  The world has never been the same because someone came for everyone.

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; ³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation ³¹ that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”  Luke 2:22-38 (ESV)

Luke was not an apostle, or an eye witness like John and Matthew were to all that Jesus did.  Luke wasn’t even Jewish.  He was a physician who came to a saving knowledge of Christ, probably through the Apostle Paul, whom he was an associate with.  Luke set out to thoroughly investigate eye witnesses to tell a detailed account of who Jesus was and what He had done, so people who weren’t there to see it for themselves, like himself, could discover what he himself had found in Christ.  This account of baby Jesus’ baby dedication is unique to Luke’s Gospel.  He uses it as another opportunity to highlight what the old man Simeon say, that Jesus came for all people, Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews).  The baby in the manger was the world’s Savior.  Someone came for everyone!

Simeon didn’t see salvation in an idea that day.  He saw salvation in a person.  That salvation was not reserved for a select few.  Luke also saw an incredible detail in this story that we can easily miss.  In verse 24 he wrote that Mary and Joseph came to bring an offering of two turtle doves.  This was an offering that poor people would bring because it didn’t cost much.  How beautiful and ironic that the King of Kings was dedicated with a cheap offering, only to one day grow up and offer Himself as a priceless offering for all people!

¹² Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12 (ESV)

The first Christians were filled with light, and they did what they could to expose darkness and save souls.  One way they did this was to end the practice of the exposure of infants.  Every race, every ethnicity, on every continent has at one time practiced the killing of babies.  Many still do.  Some did it if the child had any physical or mental abnormalities.  Others did it if the child was not the gender they wanted.  If a child was not sacrificed, they were “exposed”.  Meaning, they were abandoned and exposed to the elements.  If they lived, then it was the will of the gods.  If it died, then it was the will of the gods.

In the Roman empire, many parents practiced exposing their undesired children by tossing them into the river or leaving them along the riverbanks.  The love of Christ burned so hot in these 1^st century believers that they would rescue these babies and raise them as one of their own.  Many took notice of how these Christians were loving and living.  Within 300 years of Jesus resurrection, these Christians conquered the Roman empire, not with weapons of war, but with love and light.  Emperor Constantine then banned the practice of exposure in 374 AD.  What would cause certain people to see value in babies that others devalued?  These Christian were forever wrecked by a God who saw so much value in them that He sacrificed Himself.  They believed that this extravagant love required them to sacrifice comfort to bring comfort to others.

Though people, groups, and babies are still devalued in our society today, though ancient slavery has been replaced with modern day human trafficking, and though the practice of exposure has been replaced with abortion, we must ask ourselves what does love require of me?  What form of darkness should we expose with the light of Christ that is in us?  This gift is not just for us.  Its for everyone.

2,000 years ago, poor Jewish shepherds were witnesses to the birth of an uncommon baby.  The light of the star led rich wisemen, non-Jews, to the light of the world.  The Lord is light, and He desires to light the way back to Him for all people, not just some people.  All who believe in Him, regardless of any status or trait, receive this light into their souls.  Now the infinitely worthy God in us is who determines our worth.  And because of how Jesus lived, died, and rose again, we know what our price tag looks like.  By laying down His life for our redemption, God gave the ultimate gift, no more, no less because He believed we were are priceless.

Now, those blood-bought believers, who are made up of Jews and Non-Jews from both BC to AD, have been crossing the line that outlines their comfort zone, leading the charge, championing the cause of Christ, and bringing comfort to those all around them.  It is near impossible to find a group today that can rival the love that is present in the multi-generational, multi-ethnic, and multi-class make-up of the local church.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.  2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (ESV)

Jesus, the Prince of Peace, paid the price to save you and me.  The dividing line of history tells a story of divine love, for the Lord of all came to save us all.  You are valued.  You are loved.  Jesus believed you were worth the price He paid for on the cross.  That is why Christ is worthy.  He is the One-Size-Fits-All kind of a Savior.  That is why we ought to cross the line that outlines our comfort zone, so that we may bring comfort to others and introduce them to a God who loves too!  Be someone who through Christ comforts some, or at least one.