Seasons Greetings Pt. 1 - Gen. 37:1-11

Candy canes, stockings, chimneys, presents, lights and more lights, mistletoe, the north pole, angels, a special baby, eggnog, decorations, Charlie Brown, Ebenezer Scrooge, Santa Claus, family, holiday greetings, cards, manger scenes, rudolph, tinsel, wise men, candles, Christmas trees, Christmas dinner, Christmas carols, Christmas parties, Christmas stories, Christmas plays. These are just a few things we associate with Christmas.

Just why do Christians celebrate Christmas especially since we know that Jesus wasn’t born on Dec. 25th? Beyond that there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that the church celebrated this holiday for its first few hundred years.

It’s for that reason that Christians aren’t dogmatic about insisting that Jesus Christ was born on Dec. 25th. To go further as believers we don’t even have to insist that cities display manger scenes on public property and we really shouldn’t mind it terribly much when stores display holiday greetings instead of Christmas greetings.

Does that mean that we shouldn’t celebrate Christmas? Not at all. Because along with His death and resurrection it’s my belief that birth of Jesus Christ is among the most important events in human history and as such ought to be celebrated.

Last week we learned that Joseph's story is just one strand in the grand story of God’s actions through time, history and people to save His people from their sins and save them into an eternal, living relationship with Him through Jesus Christ.

So how does this passage help us to celebrate Christmas?

We celebrate Christmas because God commissioned Jesus Christ to bring salvation to the world.
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

It’s in this way that Joseph’s story is similar to the Lord’s story. It’s at this time that God commissioned Joseph to bring salvation to his people.

Gen. 37:2 begins the next major division in this book by stating that these are the generations of Jacob. Thats one of the ways the Lord indicates that we’re venturing into new territory. These transitions not only signal that God is moving forward with redemptive history but also indicates whom He plans to use to in order to further that history. Thus Gen. 5 opens with the generations of Adam and ends with the birth of Noah whom the Lord will use to build the ark. Genesis 10 begins with an account of the generation of Noah ending with the line of his son Shem and after a short interruption regarding the tower of Babel picks up with a focus on one of Shem’s sons who was the ancestor of Abraham. Now the focus has moved from Abraham to the His grandson Jacob where God zeroes in on his son Joseph who will be the principle character who carries forth God’s story of redemption for the rest of the book.

The next person God used in a unique way to bring salvation to His people is Moses and following Moses it was Joshua. After Joshua there occur a series of people called judges. The judges lead up to Samuel who serves as both God’s prophet and his priest. And it’s Samuel who anoints David who for a time serves as the focus of God’s redemptive activity for His people. Even after Judah’s defeated and no longer lives in the land of promise the Lord uses Esther a sister of great courage as the instrument of His salvation so that at one time she was the focus of His activity to rescue His people.
All of these great saints lead up to Jesus Christ who is the last and final person to carry the focus of God’s saving activity.

Jesus did have a few things in common with the rest of those whom God focused on to bring salvation to His people. Among those things was the fact that at the time God used them they and they alone were the ones who would bring salvation to God’s people. Refusing to listen to them and trying to find salvation your own way would have surely and certainly resulted in your own death.

But there are some things that set Jesus apart from all those whom God used before Him. The others whom God used rescued His people from physical destruction. The famine of Joseph’s time, the enslaving Egyptian empire whom Moses faced and evil Haman who wanted to commit genocide were all mortal threats to God’s people.

Jesus however came to save us from the immortal threat to our souls which is our own sin. And it is Jesus and only Jesus who can do that. Jesus is utterly and absolutely unlike any other figure in scripture or religious history period. Because it’s Jesus and only Jesus who can do what is necessary to bring all those who trust in him full and final salvation.
There are two main reasons that’s true.
First because of His absolute holiness God only accepts those who’ve achieved perfect obedience according to His law. Jesus is the only one who did that and gives it as a free gift to anyone who recognizes their need for it and then asks for it.
Secondly, because of His absolute holiness God must judge and punish with death all of those who’ve broken His law. However, He will accept a perfect sacrifice in place of those who are guilty. Once again Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for sin of all those who recognize that they need such a sacrifice and believe that when Jesus died on the cross God accepted His death in place of their own.

We celebrate our Lord’s birth because came into the world not as a general expression of love or hope and not even as an example that miracles can still happen. Jesus came into the world to complete the work of redemption God began with the children of Adam and Eve.

We celebrate Christmas because God called His Son into His service.
and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." Matt. 3:17.

Verse 5 records God’s calling of Joseph. Joseph’s call was unlike the calls of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. God appeared to each of them in a special way and audibly spoke with them.
God didn’t call Joseph this way. Instead he used a dream. And He didn’t even explain how the dream would be fulfilled. We’ll talk more about how God uses dreams in subsequent messages.

God used Joseph’s birth, family and circumstances to fulfill this call. The Lord intentionally created Joseph with natural gifts and abilities so that he could fulfill his calling. He intentionally brought Joseph through his family so that he could fulfill his calling. Finally, the Lord intentionally used Joseph’s circumstances to fulfill His calling.

If you’ve been called to believe in Jesus Christ then you’ve been called to take His gospel to some group of people.
Jesus gave us that calling and it’s recorded in Matt. 28, Luke 24 and Acts 1.

Do you see how God has gifted and equipped you for this calling?

Do you see how the Lord can use the circumstances of your birth, your family and your experiences in that calling?

Do you accept that part of what it means to know and believe in Jesus Christ is to actively pursue that calling to declare the gospel?

We celebrate Christmas because God has confirmed the supremacy of Jesus Christ.
And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Luke 1:30-33.

Verse 9 records the dream that confirmed that Joseph’s family would one day acknowledge his supremacy. It’s this dream that brought two different reactions from his family. His brothers rejected the dream and Joseph out of hand. From their perspective they would never bow to him and acknowledge his leadership of the family.

His father however continued to think about the dream and what it might mean for Joseph. Perhaps he wondered how one of his sons would rise to such greatness that even his father would acknowledge his supremacy. Yet the meaning of the dream is perfectly clear even if the dream's application is somewhat cloudy. At some point in time Joseph's family will publicly acknowledge his supremacy and recognize the place in which God has put him.

Mary the mother of Jesus had similar thoughts about her firstborn child. Luke 2:19 records how Mary continued to think about the things spoken of her son by the shepherds.

In some ways the reactions to Joseph’s supremacy mirror those of our Lord. There are some who immediately dismiss the supremacy of Jesus Christ. They may be quite willing to accept that he was a good person, taught some good things and that we should even look to follow His example of selfless service. But they resist the idea that He is the sovereign Lord of the universe to whom they owe worship and complete, unquestioned loyalty.

Others might genuinely wonder who Jesus is. Is He just Mary’s little baby who grew into a man that was a bit more closer to God than the rest of us or something more? If so then why is He something more and why does He command our total faithfulness and obedience?

The scriptures answer these questions by declaring that Jesus is the long awaited king of the Jews and through them the entire world. In Luke 1 the scriptures record how the angel Gabriel told Mary that Jesus is the Son of the Most High and the One destined to inherit the universal kingdom spoken of through the prophets. Consequently, God’s people view Jesus Christ not simply as a symbol of general good will to be thought of during the holiday season. We accept, embrace and live by the truth that He and He alone is the absolute king of the universe whose rule will extend throughout the entire world and last forever. Therefore we gladly and with great joy give Him our lives, our worship and our obedience.

To Him Who Loves Us...
Pastor Lance