Jump Start # 244

Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

  This is Christmas week. It is time of family, sharing, holiday music and movies and precious memories. Children of all ages, big and small, love Christmas time. Shopping can be painful and stressful. There seems to be tons to get done in such a short time, but some how it all comes together. Christmas has many traditions associated with it. Some are good, some are fables. This week our Jump Starts are going to be focused upon the birth of Jesus—probably the greatest tradition associated with Christmas. It is common to find slogans such as, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” of, “Let’s keep Christ in Christmas.” Our Jump Starts, from day one have tried to be Biblically accurate. Our interests are in what the Bible says and following the Bible as God has revealed it.

  Only two of the four gospels tell us about the birth of Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible are we told when Jesus was born. Later in the week, I’ll share some conclusions that we can draw from the Bible, and they indicate that Jesus most likely was not born in December. The biggest thing we find missing from the pages of the Bible is any celebration of Jesus’ birth. The early Christians, the apostles, the early church left us no examples of any observance of Jesus’ birth. More so, every significant day that God wanted His people to observe, He always told them: when, where and what to do. This is true of the Sabbath, the day of Atonement, the Passover, Pentecost and even the Lord’s Supper. God details what He expects and wants done. For the birth of Jesus, God didn’t say anything. What day? What are we supposed to do? Further, the world gets excited about the babe in the cradle, but they ignore the Lord upon the cross. The baby in the manger may be cute, but it’s the crucified Savior that changed the world.

  So this week we will be looking at verses about the birth of Jesus. Stay with us because there are many things we have grown up hearing that are really different than what the Bible teaches. This will be enlightening and eye opening for us.

  Our verse today tells us that Jesus was sent and He was sent when God was ready. Before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He already existed. He is, was and continues to be God. John 1:1 tells us that. Philippines 2 tells us that He is equal with God. The birth of Jesus meant that God came to earth. God became one of us—not for a moment, not for a weekend, but for more than thirty years. He walked, ate, felt and was us—yet He never sinned.

 Why was Jesus born in the first Century? Why not come in the days of Moses, or Noah, or Jeremiah? Why then? Our passage answers that. “When the fullness of time came…” Certain things happened, spiritually, politically that was right. God needed the centuries of the prophets, Judges and Old Testament history to prepare us for Christ. The story of redemption began in Genesis. It is seen in the punishment of Adam and Eve when God promised that the seed of woman would crush the head of the serpent. It is seen in the promises God made to Abraham, that through his bloodline all the nations of the world would be blessed. There were other promises and prophecies. Many, many. God allowed man to sink deeper and deeper into sin. Mankind was a mess. Centuries of failures proved that. God sent Jesus.

  But there were some political things that shaped the time of Jesus coming. Daniel had prophesied a kingdom not made of hands, divine, that would be established during the fourth kingdom, beginning first with Babylon. When Jesus was born, the Romans, that fourth kingdom was in charge. They controlled the known world. Basically, it was one nation. That allowed universal travel from place to place. The majority spoke Greek, a carryover from the third kingdom, the Greek Empire. That allowed ease of speech.

  How convenient and easy this was for the apostles to take that message about Jesus into all the world. Not restricted by warring nations, not burdened with different laws, languages, and powers, they could preach God’s word into all the world.

  God sent. Jesus came. And the world has never been the same since.

Roger