Christmas – 2024
12-22-24 – Jerry Mongello
Christmas Message
Prayer: Father, we pray for our brother, son, and father, Nayt, who, through Your grace, is resting at home with his family.
Christmas is upon us again. People are running around preparing for December 25. Giving gifts is fun, and family dinners are joyful. Forgive us when the buying of gifts and the planning and preparation of Christmas gatherings consume us to the point where we forget the true meaning of the birth of Jesus and how none of the events that led up to His birth happened by accident.
The four Advent candles celebrate Joy, Hope, Peace, and Love. We can maintain Joy, Hope, Peace, and Love through Jesus Christ because His first advent and birth were not an accident! We study prophecy here at VCC because it teaches us who Jesus is and gives us a glimpse into the mind of God—not that we will ever fully understand His mind and thoughts. God gives and reveals these mysteries to us so that we may better know Him. In times of tribulation and trouble, we will have His word to hold on to!
Galatians 4:4-7 (NKJV): 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
The birth of our Lord Jesus was planned from the foundation of the world, as was our sonship and daughtership.
John 17:20-24 (NKJV): 20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 24 Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
Ephesians 1:3-14 (NKJV): 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
The first prophecy of the virgin birth is found in Genesis:
Genesis 3:14-15 (NKJV): 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly, you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 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.”
To clarify the virgin birth, God spoke again in Isaiah:
Isaiah 7:12-15 (NKJV): 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!” 13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel. 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good.”
Further clarification comes in Matthew:
Matthew 1:23 (NKJV): 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.”
The Greek word for virgin, parthenos, means a woman who has never had sexual intercourse with a man.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NKJV): 6 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Prophecy foretells where the child is born:
Micah 5:2 (NKJV): 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”
For unto us, a Child is born:
Luke 1:26-31 (NKJV) 26 Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS.”
May this message remind us all of the true reason for the season—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
