Luke 2:12
Let’s Unwrap Our Gift
The first, the greatest, and the only Gift that counts was given that
first Christmas day. That Gift came wrapped in swaddling clothes,
that is in torn or strips of clothing. There was no baby-clothing
industry in those days so babies were wrapped up tightly in small
strips of material, most likely torn or hand cut for a more
appropriate size.
Today, all the gifts we give are in honor of that Gift and today, we
still wrap our gifts—not in cloth but beautiful wrapping paper. I
suppose the wrapping makes our gift more mysterious, unknown,
exciting. You might know that you have a gift, but you don’t know
what it is. Then on Christmas, you unwrap your gift to see what you
have received.
Let’s unwrap our Gift and see what we have received. How do we do
that? By opening the Bible and seeing what it says of our Gift. One
of the easiest ways to do that is to look at the names and titles of
Jesus.
In Bible times, the Jews gave descriptive names to their children
much like the native American Indians do. The most popular Indian
names in 2014 were:
Aarav, Ah-juv, Most popular in 2014, means Peaceful, Wisdom.
Vivaan, Viv-aan - 2nd most popular, means "first rays of the sun"
Most common names today have meanings.
Shirley - Open space or meadow
Patricia - Nobly born
Carl - Common man, freedman, strong man, worker
Some names require no imagination at all to figure out where they
came from:
Shepherd, Farmer, Smith, Baker
Let’s unwrap our Gift and see what His name and title is! Naves’
Topical Bible lists over 250. Why are there are so many names and
titles? Because there is so much that needs to be said about this
Gift!
I. Mt 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save
his people from their sins.
A. The first name I mention was the name given to the Gift by
God Himself, Jesus. This is the common name that God Himself
picked.
B. We need to understand that Jesus is the English translation of
Jesus’ name.
1. The name given is in the Hebrew, Yeh-ho-shoo-ah, sometimes
shortened to Ho-shay-ah.
2. I don’t think it makes any difference to God at all. Some
insist that when we call the Gift Jesus, we are using a
perverted name and somehow being disrespectful if not
blasphemous of God. But if God wanted us to speak of
Jesus only by His Hebrew name, why was the New Testament
not given in Hebrew? It was given in Greek and the word
used for Jesus’ name is actually the Greek translation of
Jesus’ name.
3. The bottom line is that I think the name of Jesus in every
language is sacred. When we all get to heaven, God may
pick one language for us to all speak and it may be
Hebrew but until then, we can sing the praise of His
English name, Jesus!
4. Since Jesus (or its equivalent) is the name designated by
God to be our Gift’s name, it makes sense that it would
be His commonly called name.
C. Jesus means "Jehovah saves" or "Jehovah saved."
1. What a name! Every time we call our Gift by His God-given
name, we are making a statement.
2. I like the English spelling of His name because it ends
in the letters U-S, US. "Jesus saved" who? Jesus saved
US!
D. You need to understand that whether it is the Hebrew
pronunciation of His name or another, one day, everyone will
call on this Gift’s name and acknowledge that salvation is
through Him and Him alone.
Php 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth;
E. So what do we get when we unwrap our Gift? We get Jesus! We
get a Savior.
1. No doubt, God picked this name to be Jesus’ commonly used
name because of all the things Jesus is and does, God
wanted to emphasize that He is the Savior of the world!
2. Is it any wonder that man is determined to remove Jesus
from Christmas?
a. It is a good thing that whoever started the Christmas
customs called the holiday CHRISTmas.
b. Had they not, there would not be shred of Jesus left
in Christmas by now.
F. Many of the names and titles of our Gift speak of His role as
Savior.
1. Horn of salvation \\#Luke 1:69\\
2. Lamb of God \\#John 1:29\\
3. Passover \\#1Cor 5:7\\
4. The Savior
Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the
city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord.
G. So what do we get when we unwrap our Gift? We get a Savior.
II. Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given:
A. This verse helps to emphasize that when you open this Gift,
you find the most unusual Present you have ever received.
1. This statement contains two titles together.
2. I mention them together because they are joined together
in the Scripture to point out Jesus’ dual nature.
B. The first is "a child is born."
1. This name/title speaks of the humanity of Jesus.
a. Jesus was a Child who was born.
b. That title is a statement to make certain that we
understand that Jesus was born a Child.
2. For most children that is no mystery for children are
always born. But for Jesus to be a Child that was born
is indeed a great mystery!
a. For the Bible has always maintained that tithe coming
Messiah would be Divine, that is God.
b. Yet, here He is called the Child who is born.
c. How can God be a Child born?
d. That is the incarnation, the doctrine that God became
Man.
3. What is the significance of Jesus being born a human
child?
a. It means that He could die as a sin Sacrifice!
b. In God’s original state, a spiritual Being, Jesus
could not die for us.
c. In fact, there was no sacrifice for our sins for
animals no matter how much you might love them are
not worthy sacrifices for sin.
d. Why? They have no soul to give. They are living
beings but they are not eternal beings.
e. God became a Man so that He could die for us.
4. Many of Jesus’ names or titles reflect Jesus’ humanity.
a. Emmanuel - "God with us"
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall
give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
(1) Literally, this name means that the One who bears
this name will be God walking among mankind.
(2) Some of the naysayers ask, "If Jesus is the
fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, why don’t we call
Him Emmanuel.
(3) I just did. And what’s more, you knew who I was
talking about when I did it!
(4) The fact is that Jesus has so many names, it
would take awhile to call him about every name
every time He is referred to so each group of
people tend to pick one or two names and call
Him by those more than others.
b. Son of Man
(1) The term means a son of mankind, one born of the
human race.
(2) This is a term used 193 times in the Bible, most
often used to refer to the human race in
general.
(3) However, Jesus was referred to as "THE Son of
man" (93 times), meaning that He was the One who
best represented the entire human race for He is
what God intended the human race to be.
C. The second is "a son is given."
1. Notice the difference between born and given.
a. Infants entering the world to a parent are being born.
Only one who already is can be given.
b. It would be a mistake to tell my wife our six children
were given to her. She would contend that she
worked for them, via birth.
c. Yet, some mothers choose to give their children to
another after they are born. That is called
adoption.
d. The point being, for Jesus to be a Son given requires
that He already BE.
e. This phrase speaks of the ETERNALITY of Jesus.
1John 1:1 That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our
eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled, of the Word of life;
f. This is a reference to Jesus’ deity or His Godness.
Jesus is God.
g. It is interesting that in this two expressions, we
find both the deity of Jesus and His humanity.
h. Of course, there are many others terms which refer to
Jesus’ deity.
(1) Son of God (47 times)
(2) Son of the Highest
Lu 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called
the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his father David:
(3) The Mighty God and the Everlasting Father
Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us
a son is given: and the government shall be upon
his shoulder: and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
2. Take note that the Bible refers to Jesus as a "Son."
a. Of course, that is not just in one reference but many.
The most popular probably being John 3:16.
b. In a sick and perverted age when man wants to say
that the sexes are irrelevant, we need to point out
that the Bible makes them relevant.
(1) There are genderless bibles where God is referred
to either in a neutral sense ("it") or even in
the female gender "her").
(2) I hope you have not been so duped. Why?
(a) If the Bible calls God the "Father" and
Jesus the "Son," it is a blasphemous thing
to call them any other gender.
Re 22:18 For I testify unto every man that
heareth the words of the prophecy of this book,
If any man shall add unto these things, God
shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book:
(b) Sin is passed down through the man’s seed.
\\#Rom 5:12\\ When the Bible refers to God
as the Father, it is stating that Jesus had
no earthly father.
(c) Like it or not, God has given to men the role
of leading and to the woman the role of
following. Jesus being a Man speaks of His
leadership.
D. So what do we get when we unwrap our Gift? We get God who is
human and a human who is God.
III. Our Gift is called the "Ruler in Israel."
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet
out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have
been from of old, from everlasting.
A. This title tells us another of the things that our Gift came
to do. He came to rule.
1. Make no mistakes. God has not abdicated His Lordship!
2. Neither the church nor the kingdom of God will be a
democracy and God will not be granting to the saved the
right of self rule or self determination.
3. He is Lord, Master, King of kings!
B. This verse makes reference to our Gift’s rule over Israel, but
His rule will extend far beyond that one nation.
Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne
of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and
to establish it with judgment and with justice
from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the
LORD of hosts will perform this.
1. He will sit upon the throne of David (a reference as to
where His throne (the center of His government) will be
located.
2. But the "increase of government," the greatness, the
abundance, the responsibility of government, will have no
end.
a. No limits of either time or reach.
b. Once our Gift takes the reigns of government, He will
take all the reigns and He will never lay them down.
3. Our Gift will order and establish (control and make) the
government to use judgment and to be just.
Da 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut
out without hands, which smote the image upon
his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake
them to pieces.
4. Daniel describes our Gift’s domain as "a stone cut out without
hands."
a. That is, without man’s hands.
b. It will crush every form of government and authority
that man has.
5. John described Jesus as the Master of all kings and Lords
of the earth.
Re 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his
thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND
LORD OF LORDS.
6. Both the Psalms and Revelation describe Jesus ruling with
"a rod of iron" \\#Psalm 2:9, Rev 2:27, 12:5, 19:15\\.
C. Such a theocracy will be required if it is to be a just and
peaceful reign. Man in his sinful state will be dealt with
lovingly but firmly.
1. There will not be any sit-ins, marches, or protests.
2. Of course there won’t be an murders or stealing either.
IV. Our Gift is called the "Prince of Peace."
A. That name confused me.
1. It was the word "Prince" that did it.
2. To me, prince is a step down for a prince is the son of a
king and its the king who has the authority not the
prince.
3. But I looked the word up and it means a leader. It is
translated "chief," "captain," even "ruler" in our Bible.
4. That helped me to get an idea of what the name is saying.
B. Jesus is the One who leads people to peace!
Lu 1:79 (Zacharias) To give light to them that
sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the way of peace.
1. Peace is an important part of both the Christmas and the
Christian message.
Lu 2:14 Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.
2. Many of the Christmas movies and songs promote the peace
of Christmas but they often leave out the means of
attaining that peace.
3. It only comes by the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ.
I find it amazing how many people know that truth but fail to
actually accept Jesus as their Savior. God has given to us the
greatest of all Gifts, His Son. If you have never trusted Jesus as
your Savior, you need to do so today. He loves you. He died for you.
He will forgive you of your sins and make you His. Would you trust
Jesus today?
