Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Would you join me in prayer? Father, we are grateful for this morning. We're grateful for just the blessing of being Christmas Eve and that we get to celebrate the arrival of our greatest gift of all, which is your son, Jesus Christ, who came to take away our sins, to be born and live a perfect life that we could not, so that he could give a substitutionary death it so that we could have a life we do not deserve. And I'm really grateful for that.
[00:00:30] As we continue to worship you, as we lift up our voices, as we sing, as we hear from your word, Father, I pray that you would make this Christmas unlike any other, even though we've celebrated so many already. May this one be unique, and may we walk out of here with a brand new, fresh view of what it took for us to be family. Family and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. Bless us as we do that this morning. I pray as we continue to do so. In Jesus name. Amen. Please be seated.
[00:01:06] I forgot my iPad, which is back there.
[00:01:13] On whatever it is back there, you'll find it back there, because without that, I'm useless. So thank you, John, for bringing that up for me. Thank you, Vanna. You did great.
[00:01:26] Christmas comes and goes, doesn't it? And it comes and goes really, really quickly. Tomorrow is Christmas. This is a unique opportunity for us to actually celebrate on Christmas Eve. And I don't know about you, but it's kind of like.
[00:01:39] It just seems like it was Christmas already, and now it's Christmas again. And there's almost a moment, I don't know if you've experienced this, where you anticipate Christmas. You get ready for Christmas, and then all of a sudden, it arrives, and then it's gone. It happens so fast, and if you're not paying attention, it takes a lot of work to put all those decorations up right? Takes a lot of work to cook, all that food. Takes a lot of work to get on the flights. I know. I just spent two days in the airport trying to make it back for this service. Today I got to see my mom, which was awesome. Hi, mom. And it's a period of time when life seems to stop for a little while, but then it gets so busy, and you got your shopping to do. You get your decorations out of the crawl space. You cook and you plan. You send the invitations out. You finally figure out where everybody's sleeping and where they're not sleeping. The lights are sparkling around the house. The house smells better than it has all year. Family and friends finally have arrived, and you anticipate this morning, everybody gets together for us. We take a picture of all the girls coming down the stairs together. And they get out to. I can't say that.
[00:02:44] No. And they get out to the Christmas tree. The presents are being opened, the batteries are inserted. Everybody gets to play with whatever they got. Pictures are taken, dinner is served. And suddenly all the wrapped gifts that look so beautiful under the tree are now a big pile of mess on the floor. You're trying to salvage anything you can for next year. Christmas dinner that was being cooked for over 8 hours is eaten in 15 minutes.
[00:03:11] And life goes back to normal all too quickly. And you wonder, how could it have come and gone so fast in that moment? You live for that moment when everybody's together and it's working, even when it's not working. Like this morning, it didn't work so well this morning, but we're living in this moment now. But in a few minutes, this moment will be gone.
[00:03:36] But in that moment, you love it. You're with your friends, you're with your family. You're reminiscing. You're telling the same stories you've told a million times, and you're laughing at the same places you've laughed at a million times.
[00:03:46] Christmas day is full, and then all of a sudden, it's over.
[00:03:55] Push away from the table. Cleanup begins. You're full. The day is full. And that moment of anticipation and celebration begins. Now to waiting for next year.
[00:04:08] You knew it would arrive eventually, but it kind of arrived without any planning at all. It kind of arrived without anybody even paying attention. And then all of a sudden, it had been fulfilled and it's over. This is how the Bible explains to us the arrival of Jesus Christ. Actually, in the book of Galatians, it uses a word. And so I'd like to introduce you to this word in Galatians chapter four and verse four. And here's what the word of God says in Galatians four and verse four. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law. You'll see that in a moment as soon as they get up there, but let me read it for you one more time. Just listen to these words because they are powerful. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. It uses this idea of fullness of time we're doing through orchestrated series. That's what we're working on here at village church. East as we've gone through our time together as advent. And in Matthew one, Matthew, remember, talks about all of these different people that he's talked about. You remember this?
[00:05:27] He talks about this. Three sections of 14 names. All of these different people who had all messed up. Many had been rejected in the past. We are on Galatians four and verse four. If you're looking for where we are, each one had a story. Each one had messed up in the past. Each one was rejected in some way. Each one had been redeemed by God in some way. But everything had to align for the arrival of Jesus Christ. And now the time had arrived. Now the time had finally come.
[00:05:58] Jesus was being born. There was a fullness, like Galatians told us, there was a fullness of time when history was full. Now the word full in Galatians that we just read about, full means complete. Now, when you are having Thanksgiving dinner, for an illustration, remember thanksgiving dinner and again takes you 8 hours to cook. Everybody devours it in 15 minutes. You pull away from the table at some point because you're not young as you used to be, right? When you were younger, it was like, I'm going up for my third plate. I'm going up for my fourth plate. Can't do that so much. When you get older, you have to pull away from the table. And what do you say when you pull back from the table? You say, I can't eat anymore. I am. I'm full. This is the word that God's word uses in Galatians to help us understand. Time was full.
[00:06:51] Time was full. Jesus'arrival was slated as the next thing to come.
[00:07:02] All of the time that had happened before Jesus'arrival was completed, people had had struggles. Life had happened to a whole bunch of different people, a whole bunch of different ways. And no matter who it was or what struggles occurred, they were all very similar. Everybody had challenges with life. And all of a sudden, as time went on, it became full. And that's when Jesus'arrival would happen. We had determined at that point of time in history that there was still brokenness. There's still greed. There's still tyrants. People still can't seem to fix themselves. People still can't seem to get along.
[00:07:42] This is when Jesus came.
[00:07:46] I don't know about you, but I kind of have arrived there myself where it's like, I'm not sure. Maybe time is full again. Maybe we're in need for another big moment, a big change, something big to occur, because this is what happened when time was full at Jesus arrival. In Matthew chapter two, it says this jumping over to the book of Matthew. Now, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king. Behold, wise men. Came from where? Church.
[00:08:18] Wise men. It's up there. Came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him. I find a lot of things interesting about this passage because it's right after Matthew chapter one that tells us about all of these jewish names, some good names. Abraham, David, some spectacular names, some not so good, some messed up, some rejected altogether. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, some not even jewish at all.
[00:08:52] And now we get to Matthew chapter two, and we have all of a sudden Matthew, who is writing to us and saying, time is full, jesus has arrived. And who are the first people that Matthew says come to see Jesus? They are not from the, they are from the east. They're not jewish at all. They're not even roman. They are from the east. They are from Persia.
[00:09:19] Now, I don't know if you know where Persia is today, but it's in the news a lot. Persia is what we call modern day Iran.
[00:09:27] These people came from Persia. And Matthew goes directly to that moment in Jesus'life. Now, most likely, the Magi did not come, these wise men did not come until much later on when Jesus was circumcised. This would be like maybe even years later.
[00:09:44] And yet Matthew goes directly to. From a jewish name of rejects, Matthew goes directly to. Oh, yeah. And then guess what happens? Persians come, wise men. The Bible calls them Chaldeans now, or Chaldeans. If you know this word, you've read your Bible before.
[00:10:05] These people we refer to as Chaldeans, or wise men, or magi, these were a class of civil servants who actually consulted the supernatural in the ancient world. They gave consultation to the king because the king wanted to know what's going to happen next. And the king wanted to access every person that he could, every part of information that he could. He didn't have the Internet. He didn't have Google. He didn't even have AI. He had nothing. So he needed somebody to tap into the supernatural to tell him more than he could get on his own.
[00:10:40] The people that he tapped into were called Chaldeans, or Chaldeans, wise men, Magi, these are the people who gave consultation to the king, and they gave him unconventional consultation because they studied the stars and they studied prophecies of all other religions, and they studied dreams. And they did interpretation. Sometimes they even did divination. These guys were like accessing every part of life that they could in order to do their jobs as best they could because the king wants information, and these guys were good at their job.
[00:11:19] It's worth noting, these magi, these people were detested by the jewish people. Do you want to know why they were detested? Oh, you can give me the next slide if we have it. Yeah. These were from Persia. Studied stars, other religions, fortune tellers, that's who these were. Now, the jewish people detested them because way back in deuteronomy 18, God says to the jewish people, to his people, here's what he says. Anyone who practices, uhoh, divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens or is a sorcerer, a charmer or a medium, or a necromancer, or one who talks to the dead, whoever does these things is what church an now do you know what abomination means? An abomination to the Lord. The closest word we have for that in our language today is puke.
[00:12:09] Puke. If you miss that, these things make God sick.
[00:12:15] They're an abomination to him. And yet, the first people that Matthew writes who come seeking Jesus, are Magi, wise men, Chaldeans. They are diviners, they are sorcerers. Now listen, you may think to yourself, that's really od, you should. And if you're reading the book of Matthew, as a jewish person, you should think that's od. That's the point. But the wise men didn't think that was od because they had a famous, famous guy in their past who they all studied, because he was really good at his job and he was like 500 years in the past. And what was his name?
[00:13:00] Oh, very good. You know your Bible? Oh no. It's up there.
[00:13:04] The most famous Chaldean, the most famous magi, the most famous wise men these people all went to was Daniel. And Daniel was a jewish person.
[00:13:15] Daniel was captured by the Babylonians. He was put into slavery. He and his three friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who I like to call YourShach, Myshach and a bungalow.
[00:13:30] He and his three friends had to live under babylonian rule, and they were slaves, and they were put into the business of becoming wise men.
[00:13:44] Now, Babylon got taken over by the Assyrians, and the Assyrians became Persia. And so when these guys from Persia show up, they show up because they have studied their hero from the past. And his name was Daniel. Daniel had a super strong connection with the supernatural. Remember, what did Daniel do all the time that almost got him eaten by lions?
[00:14:12] He prayed. Daniel prayed constantly. And God talked to him constantly. And God gave him wisdom beyond his years. It says in the book of Daniel. And every king that came across the scene, no matter if they were babylonian or assyrian or persian, they all loved Daniel because he was good at his job. What he said would happen, actually did. And he also wrote prophecies that every magi, every wise man, every Chaldean after him would study for the next 500 years. And here's one of the prophecies he wrote down. It's in Daniel, chapter one, and verse 19. And among all of them was found Daniel, Hananiah, Mishal, and Nazariah. Therefore, they stood before the king every matter. Oh, this is just introducing them, being Chaldeans. Every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them. He found them how many times better than his regular guys, ten times better than all his magicians and enchanters that were in his kingdom. There was nobody like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And when he wrote down stuff, everybody read it. He was the best at what he did.
[00:15:16] And so every Magi would know that Daniel wrote about a big moment of time.
[00:15:25] Daniel, 500 years before Jesus arrival, wrote down about a king who would come, a king that you better be looking for, because he would be a king of all kings. And when he wrote that down, and every magi studied it, from that moment forward, they would have known. Hey, Daniel said, we better be watching.
[00:15:44] We better weave, waiting for this. Here's what he wrote down in Daniel seven. Here's just one of them I saw in the night visions. And behold, the clouds of heaven, there came one like the son of man. And he came to the ancient of days, and he was presented before him, and to him was given dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all peoples and all nations and all languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall never pass away. His kingdom is one that shall never be destroyed. And when Magi, Chaldean, Wiseman, whatever you want to call these guys, when they studied the papers of their predecessors, they would know Daniel's prophecy. And so when they came looking for Jesus, you know what they said? Let me remind you. Matthew, chapter two. Behold, wise men came to Jerusalem from the east, saying, look at what they said.
[00:16:38] Where is he who has been born? Aha. King of the Jews. For we saw his star when it rose, and we have come to worship him. Church. If they saw his star. When it rose, what were they doing?
[00:16:53] Watching.
[00:16:55] They had studied Daniel, they had studied his prophecies. And they knew this king was coming and they knew it would happen. And they were waiting and they were watching. And when that star arose, it took them months and months and months. But when that star arose, they found the one who they were seeking.
[00:17:17] In fact, they said, we are looking for the one who has been born king of the Jews. There is a king coming, a king to end all other kings. And he is the one worthy of worship. They were looking for something different church. They were looking for something different.
[00:17:32] They didn't know what Christmas was. Nobody did.
[00:17:36] The Jews were looking for the messiah, but they were looking in all the wrong places. These guys from Persia, they were looking in the right places.
[00:17:45] But with this first Christmas, everything changed.
[00:17:50] And that's why Galatians says, in Galatians four, I read it for you one more time. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman born under the law.
[00:18:04] It was a different time.
[00:18:06] Everything we've been doing up to this point is about to change.
[00:18:10] Time is full and now it's something different. You ever wonder why? Jesus constantly said, you have heard it said, but I say unto you, you ever heard that before? If not, read jesus because he says it all the time. You've heard it said, but I say unto you know what he's saying. You've been doing it this way. I'm telling you a different way to do it. You've been interpreting how God wants you to live this way. I'm telling you you're missing the boat. Jesus came because the fullness of time had come. And Jesus came to give us something different. We were doing it wrong.
[00:18:45] It's high time for a change.
[00:18:47] Jesus said you've loved people in the past. I want to tell you a new kind of love. Love the way that I love. Jesus says you've had peace in the past. I give you my peace today. Jesus says you've experienced joy in the past. I'm going to give you an unspeakable joy full of glory. It's time for wise individuals to seek Jesus because it's time for a change.
[00:19:13] Consider this. Would you please consider this?
[00:19:18] When God put the stars in the sky at creation, he did that in such a way so that at the right time, the stars themselves would align and those wise men from Persia would find the king of the Jews.
[00:19:38] What is it time for? Okay, Craig, it's time. It's time for a change? What is it time for? I'm glad you asked because I take you back to Galatians, chapter four. Look at the next verse. This is what it's time for. It's time to redeem those who are under the law.
[00:19:52] It is time for us to receive adoption as sons. Not just know about God, but to be in God's family. And because you are sons and daughters, God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba. Father. An intimate relationship with Father God. So now. So now this present time. This is the time the time is fulfilled. Jesus arrived. This is why. So that at the right time, God sent forth his son. So that. Verse seven. So you are no longer a slave. But a what? Church. You are no longer slaves. You are sons, you are daughters. And if you are sons and daughters, then you are an heir through God.
[00:20:33] Do you know what this means? It is high time for humanity to become family with God.
[00:20:40] The Bible actually says that we're born enemies of God.
[00:20:44] Jesus came so that that could change. The time was fulfilled. That's why God sent his son, born of a woman born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law.
[00:20:58] Church Christmas is about family.
[00:21:02] I don't know what your family has been in the past, but I do know this. You've never experienced a family like you do with God. There's all kinds of different people in this family.
[00:21:13] There are people of nobility, like Abraham's and David's.
[00:21:17] There are people that are rejected in this family.
[00:21:21] Put on a list in Matthew, like Tamar and Rahab and Ruth. There are people that don't look like us. They don't speak like us. They have different languages altogether, like Ruth. A moabite.
[00:21:34] There are people in this list that you wouldn't even believe. And you are invited to be a part of this list because Matthew starts chapter two not with anything else but introducing us to wise men, Magi, Chaldeans, people from the east that didn't really know much at all, other than they better be watching for a king who would come.
[00:22:00] And when they saw him, they worshipped him. No one is born naturally into this family. This family is for those who seek him.
[00:22:10] This is not simply a title. We're not just called sons and daughters of God. We literally become heirs. What's the difference between a son or a daughter and an heir? What does an heir get? Why do we call them an heir? Heir. Why do we call them an heir?
[00:22:28] They get all the good stuff.
[00:22:30] How would you like to be a sole heir to who's ahead of Amazon.
[00:22:38] Yeah. Bezos. How would you like to be the sole heir to Bezos? What does that mean? That means you probably don't have to work for a living, is what that means.
[00:22:47] Listen, you are not just a son or daughter of God. You're an heir. You get all the privileges, all the rights thereto.
[00:22:57] So what? Only two. Number one, what do you need a messiah for?
[00:23:05] What do you need a messiah for?
[00:23:08] Some people don't need a messiah. I know people like this. They've done life the same way all the time. Every Christmas comes and goes. They celebrate Christmas, they hand out gifts, but it has no life changing moment for them, no real meaning. Life has its ups and downs, but that's just how life works. They're just navigating life on their own.
[00:23:30] What comes after this life, no one really knows. And who cares to really pursue it? Whatever happens after life happens, you're not going to change it anyway, so why bother working? Why bother trying to figure it out? And why do they do this?
[00:23:46] What do they do with the life that they have? Well, a variety of things, but they do not search for a messiah because they don't think they need one.
[00:23:58] Listen, I want to tell you. Wise men began searching for Jesus from the moment of Daniel writing that prophecy. I know that's true because they did it for 500 years.
[00:24:11] And when the star appeared like they thought it would, they packed up their gear and they headed across the desert, not knowing where they were going. All they knew, they were looking for a king of all kings whose kingdom would never pass away. They needed somebody to worship acts. 1726 says it this way.
[00:24:34] This is to us, so that we remember we are still seeking this messiah. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of this earth, having determined and allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling pace. In other words, God created all that there is. God created every human being that has ever lived. And he determined everywhere that they would live. He knows every moment of every person's life. Why would he do this? It's in the next verse, verse 27. So that they would hit it.
[00:25:05] What does it say?
[00:25:08] So that they would see. You want to know why you're here, church? You want to know why you're here? You want to know why your friends are here? So that they should seek God. Sound like anybody you know? From Matthew, chapter two.
[00:25:20] So that they seek God and perhaps feel, get the wording here, feel their way toward him and find him. Yet actually, he is not far from any one of us.
[00:25:32] We are born so that we can seek God. The wise men were born so that they could seek God.
[00:25:38] You are here so that you could seek God. That's the only reason you were created, so that you would seek him, feel your way toward him and find him. And he's not as far away as you may think.
[00:25:50] He's not as far away as you may think.
[00:25:54] You may be watching online. You may be here this morning. I don't know what your situation is, but my guess is you've been sold at some period of your life, sometime in your life, maybe even now, that you're in a hole way too deep for God to ever find you. The darkness has consumed you. Your soul begins to crumble. And the lie that you will be sold is that God can't find you here.
[00:26:18] He is not far from any one of us.
[00:26:22] He is right there. He is just a prayer away, and his hand can extend into any hole that we dig and pull us out.
[00:26:35] They look diligently for the child, and that's what we need to do as well. And that's what every person in this life needs to do. Seek diligently for the savior. Number two, there's a place for you in the family.
[00:26:49] The two keys from this Christmas that show us God's character is one, he went to extreme lengths to chase us down and show us the way. And number two, there's a place for us in the family. Number two, no one is rejected from this invitation.
[00:27:05] God has gone to extreme lengths to find us, and no one is rejected from the invitation. In this orchestra, God can use every single person. Everybody's gifts are welcome.
[00:27:16] And you are given an invitation like the wise men. How do I know that? Because the New Testament is so full of verses like this one that you already know in Hebrews eleven and verse six. And here's what it says. Without faith, it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists. Read this next part with me, if you would, please. And that he rewards those who.
[00:27:43] And there you have it. Wise men still seek him. It's not a silly little phrase. It is a truth determined for us by the magi who found him and everybody after them who bows in knee to Jesus Christ.
[00:27:59] Because fact of the matter is, church, the clock will stop one more time in the future. Time will be full.
[00:28:05] It'll either result in you on your deathbed or Jesus coming back. But this time will be full. It will be complete. It will be over. All humanity will push back from the table. It might be closer than you think. I don't know.
[00:28:22] But there will be a time when this life is full. And at that time, romans 14 says, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. Each one of us will give an account of himself to God. And I would tell you, church, take a lesson from the wise men. Take a lesson from the Chaldeans, the people who should not have been invited to the whole scene in the first place.
[00:28:48] But they were looking for the right savior.
[00:28:52] They literally said, we're looking for the one who has been born king of the Jews so that we might worship him. Is that why you seek Jesus? Because I want to tell you that is the only purpose for why you were born.
[00:29:11] Time is full. Jesus has been revealed. You are invited to the party. May this Christmas be one different from all the others before. Let's pray. Father, I am grateful for this amazing truth.
[00:29:29] That you came at the right time, when time was full, so that you could redeem those.
[00:29:39] Those who were subjected to the law, who could not get to heaven on their own. We needed help. Somebody outside of ourselves. And you gave us your son, Jesus Christ.
[00:29:50] Where would we be without him, Father, wise men sought him. I can't even imagine what they must have thought when they ran into a baby. And yet they knew they needed to bow, bringing him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And, lord, we don't have anything that we can give to a king. Just our lives, our adoration and our worship. You are worthy of all of that and so much more. Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us when the time was right.
[00:30:23] And thank you for helping us find you.
[00:30:27] May we live in a generation that turns the world upside down. Of people seeking you and continuing to find you before this life is through. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.
