The CHRISTMAS Story as told in the BOOK OF LUKE 2:2-20
Luke 2
New International Version (NIV)
The Birth of Jesus
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
SO…..What is the Gospel?
The Bible clearly teaches the deepest and most significant need of mankind is to be reconciled to a Holy God. God reveals Himself in Scripture as a God of perfect holiness and justice, a God who punishes all sin and every transgression of His holy law without fail. God could not be good and perfect and just, as He is, and also allow sin to go unpunished. He created mankind in a condition of innocence and righteousness, but the first man, Adam, chose to disobey God’s command and, as a result, brought guilt and judgment on himself and all his posterity.
Romans 5:12 says:
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
All men, on account of Adam’s first sin, are born sinners. That means that we are separated from God, spiritually dead and inclined, by nature, to disobey God’s laws. Our condition is described in passages like the following:
Romans 3:9-19
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; “Their feet are swift to shed blood, Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
Ephesians 2:1-3
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
God’s righteousness. We not only do what God has commanded us not to do, we fail to do what God commands us to do, and we are devoid of the supreme love for God that is at the very heart of God’s law. For this reason, we cannot do any works that are acceptable in the sight of God. Even at our best, our own good works are stained with our sinfulness, because we are not able to act out of a pure heart of supreme love for God. According to the prophet Isaiah, “all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment…” (Isaiah 64:6).
Dear reader, this means that no matter whether you think you are a pretty good person, no matter what “good deeds” you’ve done, no matter what good qualities you have or how hard you may have tried to do good, in God’s sight, you are a guilty sinner. No amount of good works can take away the guilt of sin. No human efforts can change your heart, which, according to God’s Word is impure and desperately wicked. Nothing you could do can give new spiritual life, when you are dead in trespasses and sins. Moreover, God has promised a day of judgment, in which He will, “reward every man according to his deeds.” The Bible has much to say about the judgment of men. Jesus, in fact, during His earthly ministry, warned often about the coming day of judgment on sin. That judgment, according to the Scriptures, will be a judgment that leads to eternal punishment in a place of fiery torment. Consider, for instance the following passage from the book of Revelation:
Revelation 20:11-15
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
This is only one of the many places where God’s Word warns us of the final judgment and the punishment that awaits unrepentant sinners.
The gospel, however, is the good news that God has done for us sinners what we could not do for ourselves. God sent His own Son into the world to provide salvation for lost sinners. Jesus Christ was not just a great man who lived in history. He was and is eternal God – God the Son – come into the world in human flesh. Because Jesus was perfect God while also being fully man, He lived a life of perfect righteousness. He is the only man who never sinned and who withstood all the temptations of the devil. He had no sin of His own. However, He came into this world to die a sinner’s death. He was arrested and, though innocent of any crime or any sin, He was crucified by the Roman authorities. All this, however, was according to the plan of God from eternity past, because, when Jesus died on that cross, He bore the punishment and wrath of God against sin. He became a substitute for sinners and took the punishment for our sins upon Himself.
Isaiah 53:5-6
But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
2 Corinthians 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”—
1 Peter 2:24
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
After 3 days, Jesus rose from the dead, demonstrating His victory over death and hell and proving that God the Father had accepted His sacrifice as atonement for the sins of others.
This means that forgiveness of sins and eternal life is given as a gift of God, by faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation is given to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ instead of trying to earn their place with God by their own efforts. Believing on Christ means more than just believing the historical facts about Jesus. It’s more than giving an intellectual assent to the truth. It means that you, first of all, come to recognize your own need – that you know and believe that you are a lost and guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God and that you cannot make up for your sin or “fix yourself” by your own efforts. It means, then, that you come to Christ, turning away from your sin, and you take or receive Christ for yourself, as your only Saviour and the the rightful Lord of your life and your soul. It means that you put away any pretense to righteousness or merit or anything that you may think worthy in yourself; you confess yourself spiritually bankrupt and empty, and you lean wholly on Christ and what Christ has done in your stead.
Walking HIS Trail 