The Christmas Story was written before time began. It is the greatest story ever told. A true story that was planned in time-past and will live on into eternity.

‘Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ‘

Acts 2:23

The Christmas Story: The Story of God’s Plan of Redemption 

In the heart of the joyous celebration of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem’s humble manger, there lie two profound truths often eclipsed by the festivities. Firstly, Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb (the Redeemer), willingly shed His precious blood to atone for the sins of the entire world. Secondly, this awe-inspiring redemptive design was not a spontaneous occurrence but an intricately designed masterpiece preordained before the very fabric of time itself. The gravity of Christ’s purpose and the divine craftsmanship of the plan of redemption add unparalleled depth to the magnificent narrative of the Christmas Story.

The Reason for the Season

Sin! Yes, sin is the reason for the season. Sin is the reason for Jesus being in a manger. Sin is the reason for Jesus shedding His blood and dying on the cross. (Chiefly, it was God’s love for mankind that put His Son on the cross.) Not very Christmassy, but sin is the reason for the season. In Hebrews 10, God makes it clear why He sent His Son.

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ” Hebrews 10:5-7

God makes it clear that He sent His Son to be the supreme sacrifice for sin. Read on…

Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them ” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  Hebrews 10:8-10

God the Father took no pleasure in the sacrifices of bulls and goats. But because of what the Triune God predetermined in time past, Christ declares to the world that He, God the Son in the flesh, is doing the will of God the Father. Read on…

 And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God,

Hebrews 10:11-12 

Mind Boggling 

Before time, as we understand it, the Triune God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit) agreed on how to deal with the sin issue. (Yes, God knew before He created anything (because of His foreknowledge) that mankind would fall and sin would separate mankind from their Creator.) And it would be God the Son, Jesus Christ, who would step out and manifest Himself in the flesh to be the sacrifice that would please God the Father for the payment of sin.

who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

II Timothy 1:9

‘Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; ‘

Acts 2:23

‘He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you ‘

I Peter 1:20

Scripture makes it clear that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit decided that Jesus Christ, the Son, would take on flesh to be the supreme sacrifice for all sin. God’s Word is perfect and precise. At that exact time, God sent His Son, born of a woman.

But when the fullness of the time has come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Galatians 4:4

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.

Isaiah 9:6

‘who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ‘

Hebrews 1:3

Because God Loved Us First 

All planned before time as we know it began. That the Son, would take on flesh, shed His blood and die to pay for sin, be buried in the ground, and resurrected three days later. Never to die again. “The Gospel” Mind-boggling and impossible for any human to fully understand or explain but that’s where faith comes in. God said it, so we believe it. God did it because He loved us first and foremost. God wants us back in a relationship with Him. Stop and think about this, most of the world has no time for God. And God knows it but He still loves ALL mankind in spite of the complete rejection of everything God does for ALL. God’s unexplainable love for us.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

I John 4:10

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7 

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),

Ephesians 2:4-5

Who Will Believe Him?

In Isaiah 53, the “Christmas Story” is laid out clearly and in great detail. This amazing prophecy of the coming Christ was written by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before it happened.

Remember the golden rule of Bible study; who’s writing? and who is the writer writing too? Isaiah is the writer and he is writing to Israel.

Isaiah 53:1-2a

1. “Who hath believed our report?  and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 

How will believe Him?

2. For He shall grow up before Him as a tender planet, as a root out of a dry ground:…”

Now, what’s that a reference to Bethlehem.  Who would ever expect a King to be born in a stable situation down in the little, lowly town of Bethlehem?  So it’s just like a little piece of grass coming up out on the desert, insignificant and almost unknown.

Isaiah 53:2b

“…as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; (In other words, He wasn’t born there with a great crown of Jewels around His head and all the aspects of a King. No. He was in a lowly manger born in a stable.) and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” He wasn’t a great, fantastic, handsome individual that they were drawn to because of His physical attributes.

Isaiah 53:3

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; for He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.”

What does that mean? God the Son in the flesh knew of mankind’s sin dilemma. He knew His chosen people would join together with the Romans and crucify Him. He knew most would reject Him. The Jews didn’t know who He was but they should have. Jesus was among His people for three years performing miracles but they were stubborn. In the upper room, there were how many that believed He was the Christ the Son of God? Only one hundred and twenty, out of how many million Jews? Remember Jesus is God He knows everything before it happens and is willing to do all this because He loves not just the Jews but all mankind. Jesus Christ would have went to the cross if there was just one human on earth.

Isaiah 53:4

“Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:

He was the sacrifice — not only for the whole Nation of Israel but for the whole human race.   

yet we did esteem him stricken, (beaten and misused by the Romans) 

smitten of God, and afflicted.”  

Of course, that was the work of the cross—where all the sin of the world was laid on that sinless One. 

Isaiah 53:5

“But He was wounded for our transgressions,

Sin. He became the Supreme Sacrifice.  

He was bruised for our iniquities:

He went through it all for the sins first of Israel, of course, but also for the whole human race. “the mystery” Romans 16:25″

the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes (That is the stripes of the Roman whips.) we are healed.”

Now that’s not talking about physical healing. That’s talking about the spiritual.

Isaiah 53:6a “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;…”

In other words, they just couldn’t come together and recognize who this Jesus was, born in Bethlehem, growing up in Nazareth, and now performing miracles for the last three years. They just couldn’t figure out who He was.

Isaiah 53:6b “…and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  Jesus Christ the sinless one took on the sin of the whole world.

Isaiah 53:7

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent so he openeth not His mouth.”

The Son of God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, Who created the hill He was crucified on, created the trees for the wood that He hung on, created the men that nailed Him to the cross, but never said a word in protest. Isaiah

53:8 “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for He was cut off (Christ would die on the cross) out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken.” 

In the Old Testament who is referred to as “My People”, Israel. Remember who the writer is? Isaiah. Who is Isaiah writing too? Israel. It wouldn’t until around 40 AD that the risen Lord Jesus would reveal to the apostle Paul the “mystery” or secret of the gospel of the grace of God eleven years after Christ ascension. That now salvation is available to all the whole world apart from the law to Jew or Gentile makes no difference. Up to that point, salvation was to Jew only.

Isaiah 53:9a

“And He made his grave with the wicked,

He was buried among the lost of this world.

and with the rich in His death…”

His tomb was owned by Joseph of Arimathaea who was wealthy.

Isaiah 53:9b

“…because He had done no violence,

He had done nothing to deserve His death.

neither was any deceit in His mouth.”

He never tried to defend Himself. He stayed silent. Keep in mind the reason why God is doing all of this! Because He first loved us.

Isaiah 53:10a

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; he hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin,…

God the Father took no pleasure in any of the sacrifices prior to His Son’s perfect sacrifice on the cross. Why? Because none of those goats and bulls could take care of the sin problem. And until that perfect sacrifice was complete believers could not be in the presence of God. That perfect sacrifice was fulfilled when Christ died on the cross, was buried and was raised from the dead three days later. “It is Finished”. It was only after Christ was raised from the dead that He went into the middle of the earth and took Abraham and the rest of the saints going all the way back to Adam with Him back to heaven. Up until the cross, the saints could not be in the presence of God because full payment for sin wasn’t complete. Today, when a believer dies they go immediately to be with the Lord.  

Isaiah 53:10b

“…when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.”

Picture the suffering that Jesus went through on the way to the cross, going all the way back to the early morning hours and as He hung there in agony and shame. Yet, what was the most glorious aspect of all of God’s dealing with the human race? The resurrection! That was primary. How He arose from the dead victorious over all of His opposition. There was nothing that could take from His power and His glory when He arose from the dead. Nothing. As believers, we identify with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection! Nothing can take us from Him. 

Isaiah 53:11a

“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:…”

What were the last words Christ said on the cross; “It is Finished” Mankind has been trying to add to what Christ said ever since. By faith alone beloved. Jesus Christ did it all. His shed blood was sufficient for God the father it should be sufficient for mankind.

Isaiah 53:11

“He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:

Because it was finished, there was nothing more that could be done.

by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;…”

Not just Israel but the whole world. It’s important to realize at this time in Biblical history (700 BC) there is no salvation message to the Gentile world. Only after the cross could Jesus be the object of faith to the Gentile world. Christ had to keep the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David. Romans 15:8

Isaiah 53:11

“…for He shall bear their iniquities.

Which Jesus Christ did when He hung on the cross.

Isaiah 53:12

12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong;

Jesus Christ will reign as King over all the nations of the earth for a 1000 years.

because He hath poured out his soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors;

The two thieves one on either side of Him.

and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” 

Jesus Christ died and paid the price for all the sin since Adam but only a remnant will believe. For the believers, Christ is our advocate before the God the Father.

There it is beloved, the Christmas Story – God’s Plan of Redemption. Written 2,700 years ago by Isaiah, fulfilled 2000 years ago and planned in eternity past by the triune God.

All the Glory to God.

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Mesa Bible Study

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