Baby Talk From The Manger

BABY TALK FROM THE MANAGER

Dr. J. Mike Minnix, Editor, www.pastorlife.com

Introduction

Luke 2:1-14

"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. ³ So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. ⁴ Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. ⁶ So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. ⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

Babies don’t talk - they make noises, they cry and they coo, but they don’t talk. When they do start talking, they are dangerous. One week a family invited the preacher to eat lunch with them after the Sunday morning service. The preacher finished greeting people at the church and drove over to the home. When he arrived, the mom and dad left their five year old son in the living room with the pastor till they could get the lunch prepared. The preacher said to the lad, “Son, that food sure does smell good.” The little boy said, “We are having goat for lunch.” The preacher was a bit stunned and asked the boy to repeat what he had said. The little fellow said it again, and it was clear that the word he used was ‘goat’. The preacher said, “Son, what makes you think that we are eating goat for lunch?” The little boy said, without hesitation, “I heard mom and dad say, ‘We are having the old goat for lunch today!'” Needless to say, that little boy had said too much!

When we come to the manger where Jesus was born, we don’t expect to hear Jesus saying anything. It is true that Jesus did not speak immediately after His birth, but the mere fact that He was there, in the flesh, on the earth, said more than mere words can convey.

Today I want you to think with me about Baby Talk – about what the birth of Jesus says to you and to me, for this baby's presence said plenty. He spoke volumes merely through His presence.

I. He Said, “I Keep My Word.”

The presence of Jesus in Bethlehem was a clear fulfillment of prophecy. He was saying, by His presence, "I keep my word." The Lord never breaks a promise. Old Testament prophecy regarding the Messiah abounds, and it was incumbent on the Lord to fulfill those prophecies - that is exactly what He did. He kept His Word and He always does.

A. The Genesis Promise

In Genesis 3:15 we read that God spoke to Satan and said,

“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."

Note that God spoke of the “seed” of woman. A woman does not possess “seed,” so this statement implied something unusual and supernatural about the One who was to bruise the head of Satan. Only one woman had a child without knowing a man, and that was the Virgin Mary who gave birth to our Lord in Bethlehem. After all those years between Genesis to the Gospel of Luke, the Lord kept His Word.

There is an important lesson to be learned in the fulfillment of this prophecy. One must be patient when considering God's Word, for God does not grant us the privilege of knowing the times and seasons He has in store for us. He keeps His word, but not on our timetable. The Lord does not work His purpose according to our will or according to the calendar in our smart phone. Your digital device may be smart, but it isn't smart enough to know the ways, the times and the purposes of God.

There are those today who doubt what God says, and some outright reject the idea that God spoke to those who penned the words in the Bible, yet God has shown again and again that He keeps His Word.

• He said He would save those who believe, and He keeps His Word.
• He said He would seal them with His Spirit, and He keeps His Word.
• He said He would never leave us nor forsake us, and He keeps His Word.
• He said He would prepare a home for us in heaven, and He keeps His Word.
• He said He would come back to take us to be with Him and you can be sure He will keep His Word!
• The world is full of lies, but God cannot lie! Whatever He has promised, He will fulfill.

B. The Isaiah Promise

Isaiah wrote words in Isaiah 9:6-7, penned 700 years before Christ was born, that God inspired to be written:

“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.

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.”

The Lord promised that a Son would be given, and that He would be born in this world. God had the option to send Jesus as a fully developed child, but He didn't do it that way. There are a number of reasons why, and they are too numerous to be considered in this sermon; however, He kept His Word that declared that a Child was to be BORN! That promise was fulfilled in Bethlehem’s manger.

It wasn’t by chance that Jesus was born in the City of David. After all, the Lord said that the Messiah would rule “upon the throne of David and over His kingdom.” How can the Lord perform such acts of prophecy and fulfillment? “The zeal of the Lord of hosts” performs it.

The word "zeal" used in Isaiah 9:7 is a most interesting word. The word speaks of the power and passion of love. Think of a mother whose child is attacked by a person or beast. Her love is so strong and innate that she will fight a mountain lion with a teaspoon in order to protect her child. She is jealous over her child and will not allow anyone to harm it. The is how God's Word describes the promise of God concerning His child. He promised that His Son would come into this world and all the powers of heaven, hell and earth stood no chance of stopping it. That is how God keep His Word – with zeal, love and power - He has kept His Word and you can be sure that He will do so.

C. The Micah Promise

In Micah 5:2 the Lord said,

"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."

There is only One who came forth into this world from “everlasting,” and that was Jesus. He was born in Bethlehem, just as the Lord had said. When Jesus was born and laid in that manger, He was saying loud and clear, “I keep my Word.”

• Look at Jeremiah 23:5-6 and note that God promised the Savior who would be our “Righteousness.”
• In Isaiah 7:14 He promised that the Lord who be born of a virgin.
• Psalm 72:9 speaks of those who dwell in the wilderness, like shepherds, coming to bow down before Him.

The point here is that the Lord spoke from the manger to say, “I keep my Word. I fulfill my promises. You can depend on Me. I will not fail you!” Listen closely and you can hear that baby boy in Bethlehem's manager saying, "I told you I was coming - here I am!"

II. He Said, “I Love This World”

Not only did the Lord say, "I keep my Word," but from the manager He said, "I love you."

God is love, and His love appeared in human flesh in that manger long ago. No, a baby can’t talk, but the Son of God was saying, “I love this world - I love you.”  He said it loud and clear from the manager - by his presence among us on that first Christmas night.

A. It is an Intense Love

How powerful is the love of God. Powerful enough for His Son to leave the glories of heaven to come to a little village in a backwater part of the world so that He might save people who are in sinful rebellion against Him! The wiggling baby in that manger reveals a love so intense that we struggle every time we speak of it to do it justice.

Human love is almost always based on conditions. We love something or someone because of personal preferences. For example, I may love someone because they do things for me. I may love a car because of its color or style. Yet, the love of God was unconditional! He loves us even when we are unlovely. He loved us even while we were yet sinners. In Ephesians 2:4-5 read, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”

Jesus did not come to this earth because we deserved it. He did not arrive in Bethlehem thinking that He would be accepted and hailed as the King of Glory. He came knowing that He would die for the sins of the world. Such was the intensity of His love for you and for me!

B. It is an Immense Love

There is a story of a person who lived in a village and had never seen the ocean. He had seen ponds, lakes, rivers and streams but never the wide, rolling sea. He traveled with a couple of men to a coastal town, and for the first time he saw spread out before him the incredible expanse of the ocean. He took out the small cup from this travel gear and walked down to the shore. One of the men called out to him and said, “You cannot drink that water, it is full of salt.” The man held up his cup and replied, “Oh, I don’t want to drink it. I’m going to take it back so I can show it to my village. None of them have ever seen the ocean.” That is how the preacher feels when he tries to describe the love of God. It is an ocean so deep that is has no bottom and so wide that it has no shore. God’s amazing love was in that manger and it was so immense that no one can fully describe it and no one can measure it!

When a new baby is born, one the first things people will tell you is how much the baby weighs and how long it is. I’ve always found that intriguing. Does that really matter? “I heard your sister had her baby yesterday.” Then the reply, “Oh yes, a baby girl. She weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces, and she was 19 inches long.” What’s funny about this is that you will never hear that girl’s weight again as long as she lives!

When Jesus was born they did not give us his vital statistics. Actually, that was impossible to do. He was longer than time. He held the weight of the Universe in the palm of His little hand. His heart was big enough to love the entire world – the world before He was born and all that would come after He was born. What a Savior!

C. It is an Intimate Love

He did not come to sit on a throne in Rome, but rather He was laid in a manger to inform us and remind us that God came to share His intimate nature with the least, the last and the lost among us. He came to live in hearts that humbly accepted Him.

Just think, the Son of God had come into the world, yet His birth announcement was not heralded in the great halls of China, Rome or Egypt. His birth was announced to lowly shepherds out in the fields keeping watch over their flocks. Why? Why this kind of announcement? God wanted us to know that the love of God was for the world – one person at a time.

He loves YOU! He wants a relationship with YOU! He stands at the door and knocks on the door of your heart and asks for entrance to have an eternal, intimate relationship with you. Yes, it sounds too good to be true – but, in this case, it is TRUE!

III. He said, “I Reveal My Will”

There is one more very important thing that the baby said in that manger. He came to say, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9) That is why the angels sang, “…there is born to you this day, in the city of David, a Savior…” He came to say to all of us that it is not His will that any person perish in his sins but it is His will that every person come to Him in repentance and faith.

A. It is God’s Will for you to be Saved

Revelation 25:17 reads, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let him that heareth say, ‘Come.’ And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

It is not God’s will that you perish. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Listen to the Baby talk! He states that it is His will for you to be saved.

B. It is God’s Will for you to be Secure

We live in a very insecure world. Natural disasters, epidemics, accidents, crime and wars threaten our lives every second that we live. Look at the morning newspaper or check out the news on television or the internet, and you will see each day surprising deaths. Those who were murdered, died in disasters, were killed in accidents or died a natural death had no idea when they woke the previous day that their name would be in the obits the following day. This is a very insecure world.

I was at the doctor's office the other day to have him check out a problem I was having. He said something interesting. He said, "You know, it is not surprising when someone comes to me with a physical problem. The truth is, it is amazing that our bodies work so perfectly most of the time. If people only knew how many things can go wrong at any moment, they would thankful each day that they are not ill."

We are always at risk, but Jesus came to give us a promise. He promised that no one can take from us the eternal life He offers. The redeemed are safe in His hand. He came to give us abundant life, but more than that to give us eternal life. The little baby in that manger would prove that. About thirty-three years after His birth, they took Him to Calvary, just outside Jerusalem, and placed Him on a Roman Cross. In untold agony, bearing the sins of the world, He died on that hill. They buried Him in a borrowed tomb and sealed the door with a giant rock. Then they placed guards to be sure the body was not moved. But, they could not keep Jesus in the grave. He did not come to this earth to merely die; He came to be raised from the dead and give us the assurance of everlasting life. Those who are in Christ, are secure!

I am sure everyone here has had a special moment of feeling a tiny baby’s hand close around one of your fingers. It is all the little hand of a baby can do to simply encompass one finger on your hand. I don’t know about you, but that experience is so special and heart-warming. But, I tell you that the baby born in Bethlehem’s manger came to do more than grip one finger of your hand. He came to save those that believe on Him and to grip our eternal souls in His nail-scarred hand - you can be sure that His grip will never fail!

C. It is His Will that you Serve

He loves us, yes, but He told us to love others the way He loves us. The feelings of love and giving that we experience at Christmastime are no accident. They are part of the overflow of the love God has for us. He gave His best to us and it prompts us to give our best to Him and others.

We are to have the mind that is in Christ (Philippians 2:5).

We are to serve as He served (Mark 10:45).

Conclusion

He is not a baby anymore, and never will be one again. But, when He came as the Christ-child, He spoke volumes. Babies can’t talk, but He could and He did. He still speaks, but not from a manger. He is now seated at the right hand of God. He will day come back to this earth, but never again to be treated as He was the first time He came. Yet, until that day comes, He still says the same things:

"I keep my Word!"

"I love this World! (And, that means I love you!)"

"I share my Will! It is my will that each of you come to know me as Savior and Lord."

He has spoken, so now is it time for us to accept His Word as truth. Accept His love for you. Accept His will for your life. Accept HIM as your personal Savior today!