How many of you are planners? How many of you are not planners? Well, we’re going to learn today that God is a planner.
Now, it’s ok if you’re not a planner. Don’t worry; you’re not God. However, we should want God to be a planner because we needed Him to come up with a plan for our lives, and we needed Him to come up with a plan for the redemption of our souls.
Today, we’re continuing our Christmas series, and today’s sermon is “The Planning of Christmas.” Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us as we begin.
(prayer)
Ok, so you may recall from last week that we spoke about “The Need for Christmas.” This week is “The Planning of Christmas.” Next week, we’ll conclude with “The Blessing of Christmas.”
We learned last week that we need Christmas because we need a faithful child, we need a supernatural birth, and we need unworldly love.
Let’s see how God planned to meet those needs.
First, see . . .
I. The planning of the virgin birth
Do you remember what prophecies are? In the Bible, prophecies are messages that are spoken, which are from the Lord, and which are happening or are going to happen.
What we see regarding Christmas are several prophecies that point to something that is going to happen in the birth, life, and ministry of Jesus.
We see prophecies that indicate that God was and is planning something special.
You may recall that we learned last week about our need for a supernatural birth.
Well, God planned that supernatural birth by the birth of Jesus Christ through a young lady, named Mary.
Listen to how that moment was planned and prophesied in Isaiah 7:14. It says, “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: See, the virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.”
Remember, Immanuel means God with us.
God the Father planned that His Son, Jesus, would be born supernaturally through the virgin birth.
We see this plan come to fulfillment in Luke 1:26–27. It says, “In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.”
We would go on to see further in Luke 2:7: “Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.”
So, the virgin birth was planned by God to bring about the supernatural child. This moment was planned, it was prophesied, and it was fulfilled.
God planned to bring about redemption to you and me through the miracle of Christmas, and He did so, in part, through the planning of the virgin birth.
Next, we learn of . . .
II. The planning of the location of the birth
Is God involved in the details of our world? You better believe that He is!
God planned the moment when you would accept Him as Lord.
God planned the moment when you were born.
God is planning the moment when you will pass from the earth and go to Him.
God even knows what you’ll have for lunch today.
God is in the details.
When God was planning the miracle of Christmas, He was even planning the location of the birth of Jesus the Messiah.
Listen to this prophecy from Micah 5:2. It says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; one will come from you to be ruler over Israel for me. His origin is from antiquity, from ancient times.”
What a beautiful prophecy. Micah is providing a message from God, to God’s people, giving them hope about a ruler who will come out of Israel, who’s origin is from ancient times.
That’s miraculous! That’s incredible! That’s impossible, apart from the power of God!
In Matthew 2:4–6, we read about this being fulfilled. King Herod is trying to find out where the Messiah would be born. We read: So he assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people and asked them where the Messiah would be born. “In Bethlehem of Judea,” they told him, “because this is what was written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: Because out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.”
This is incredible! God was in the planning of Christmas all along. He cared about you and me enough that He planned the very town where His Son, Jesus, would be born.
It doesn’t end there. Did you know that Joseph and Mary had to flee the land to escape the fierce anger of King Herod?
This event was also planned by God.
We hear about this prophecy in Hosea 11:1. It says: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”
Of course, this prophecy applies in part to God remembering how He delivered His people, Israel, from Egypt.
However, look at how the Book of Matthew connects the dots for us to help us see that God was planning more than the deliverance of His people from Egypt.
Matthew 2:13–15 says: . . . an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled: Out of Egypt I called my Son.
You see, God not only delivered His people from Egypt. He also delivered His Son from Herod, to Egypt, and then later He called Him about of Egypt to return back to Israel.
What’s more, God delivered us from our sins through the miracle of Christmas, and He did so, in part, by planning the locations of the events in the Christmas story.
Finally, we see . . .
III. The planning of the blessing of the birth
Well, the Christmas story is not just about a virgin birth; it is not just about the location of a birth; it is about a tremendous blessing.
The blessing of the birth of Jesus was also planned out by God Almighty!
Listen to what we read in Isaiah 9:6–7: “For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Armies will accomplish this.”
This Christmas miracle would bring about a child who would be an extraordinary child. This Child, whom we know to be Jesus, would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace!
This Child would have vast dominion with never-ending prosperity.
This Child would reign on the throne of King David of Israel.
This Child would establish and sustain justice and righteousness then, now, and forever.
This Child would come about by the power of the zeal of the Lord!
This prophecy from Isaiah would point to God’s divine hand in planning the blessing of the birth.
Of course, we see this prophecy fulfilled. We see this plan worked out.
Matthew 2:1–2 says: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship him.”
Jesus came about as the Child who was prophesied and planned. He came about as the King who was prophesied and planned. The wise men recognized this, and so have millions of people throughout human history.
You know, this moment was not just planned and prophesied in the Book of Isaiah. It goes back even further.
You see, many years before God delivered this message through the prophet Isaiah, God spoke another message to Abraham, whom God had chosen to build a great people.
God said to Abraham in Genesis 12:1–3: “Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
All the peoples of the earth would be blessed through Abraham.
You see, on the surface, that doesn’t make any sense. Abraham’s descendants did, indeed, become a great nation. However, by and large, the Israelite people prospered and blessed themselves, not others. They were a great nation, but their greatness was limited to themselves.
However, there was one who came from the line of Abraham, from the people of Abraham, who would be a blessing to the world. His name is Jesus.
Jesus is the blessing that would come from Abraham.
Jesus is the blessing of the birth.
God planned this moment, not only in the Book of Isaiah, not only with Abraham but even further back than that.
The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:4: “For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.”
You see, before the world was even founded, God planned the blessing of the birth.
God has been planning the blessing of Christmas since before you were born, since before Jesus came to the earth as a baby, since before the time of Isaiah, since before the time of King David, since before the time of Abraham, since before the time of Adam and Eve, and since before the world was even formed.
That takes us nicely to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: God planned the Christmas story to bring salvation to the world.
Christmas reminds us that God loves us.
He saw our need, and He came up with a plan to meet our need and to bring us the blessing of Christmas.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The text contained in this sermon is solely owned by its author. The reproduction or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name. The author intends to provide free resources in order to inspire believers and to assist preachers and teachers in Kingdom work.