Exclamations of Christmas  
“No Room For Them In The Inn!” Luke 2:7 
“She gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn!” (Luke 2:7) The trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was long (approximately 100 miles), Mary was full-term in her pregnancy, the sun had set and the cool night sky was filled with stars, yet they were compelled to press on until they arrived in Bethlehem; not just because it was required by the governor, Quirinius (Luke 2:1), but because God was pressing them on, their baby MUST BE BORN IN BETHLEHEM! (Micah 5:2), at exactly the right moment (Galatians 4:4).  No other place would do! So they pressed on seeing the dim lights of a small Inn in Bethlehem just ahead. Finally, a place to rest, a bed to sleep in, and warmth from the evening cold was the prospect of the Inn. Joseph inquired about a room — “Sorry, Sir, there is NO ROOM IN THE INN!”  What,” exclaimed Joseph! “No room!” “But, but my wife is in labor, the child will be born soon!” “Do you not have somewhere we can stay?”  “Yes, I do the Inn keeper replied, “There’s a stable that is near, you can stay there if you like?”  
“Thank you”, responded Joseph, “we’ll take it.”  
“And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger!” (Luke 2:7).  A manger— a cattle-feeding trough!  Not a newly prepared bassinet, just a feeding-place for cattle! She wrapped her precious, special baby in strips of cloth — not a beautiful colored blanket — just strips of cloth; nothing special but they were clean and sufficient to keep her baby warm.   A stable does not seem like a good place for a king to be born, or even a good place for an ordinary baby to be born, yet it was a perfect place for a Lamb to be born!  A SPECIAL LAMB, not just any lamb.  A Lamb who would fulfill perfectly the requirement of every lamb to be offered at a Passover celebration — a Lamb that must be “without blemish” (Exodus 12:5).  A Lamb that John the Baptizer would recognize and declare, “Behold, the LAMB OF GOD Who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29), and the Lamb that Spirit beings around the throne of God are worshiping and shouting, “Worthy is the Lamb, that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” (Rev. 5:12)
Certainly, this baby, this perfect LAMB, was no ordinary baby because He, and He alone, is THE SAVIOR who is CHRIST, THE LORD (Luke 2:11).  Those words echo back to the prophet Isaiah who wrote about the Lord, “… before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I, am the LORD, and there is NO SAVIOR besides Me” (Isaiah 43:11), and “… I, the LORD, and there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is NONE EXCEPT ME!” (Isaiah 45:21). Certainly, Jesus was the One Who Isaiah was referring to!
This was the message that the angel declared to the shepherds out in the fields, watching over their flocks (Luke 2:8).  Think of it, shepherds!  Of all people to be the first to hear about the birth of THE Savior!  Shepherds were considered the lowest-of-the-low; they were despised by the “good people” of the day; they were not allowed to practice the ceremonial Laws; after all, they were “sinners!”  No, in the eyes of the common people they certainly were not the “likely ones” to be the first to be given the opportunity to hear about the birth of Jesus, but they were the perfect ones to be brought the “good news” about the Savior who had been born!  He came as THE SAVIOR and the ones who need THE SAVIOR are sinners like you and me!
“NO ROOM!” must have been difficult words for Joseph and Mary to hear, but because of those words the PERFECT place was provided for the PERFECT Lamb to be born to be the PERFECT sacrifice to “take away SIN”!  As the apostle Paul declared,
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable GIFT!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)!  
Let us be THANKFUL also that there was “No room in the Inn”!
Let us have a Christ-filled Christmas, Pastor Ron

Christmas before Bethlehem 
A Christmas Thought
by Pastor Ron

The title of this article may be a little surprising. How could there be Christmas before Bethlehem?
Well, technically there couldn’t because Christmas is God the Father sending His Son into the world through the womb of Mary into Bethlehem’s manger (Galatians 4:4-5), but that process or plan started long before it actually happened in time. The writer of Hebrews, through the guiding of the Holy Spirit, looked back long before Bethlehem and recorded a conversation that God the Father and God the Son had about what we now call Christmas. Let’s listen in on the conversation: “. . . when He (Christ) comes into the world, He (Christ) say, ‘Sacrifice and offering Thou (Father) hast not desired, but a body Thou (Father) has prepared for Me (Christ). In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou (Father) hast taken no pleasure’; then I (Christ) said, ‘Behold I (Christ) have come (in the roll of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy (Father) will, O God.’”(Hebrews 10:5-7). We have no idea how far back in eternity past this conversation took place, but it happened!
The plan for the “sending of the Son (Christ) into the world” was set and it would be executed at exactly the right moment in time. This is what the apostle Paul referred to when he penned, “. . . when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might
receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).
Beloved, this is a profound truth! Please, ponder it with me for a moment through three thoughts: 1.Bethlehem was not the beginning of Christ (i.e., the Son) it was a change of address!  Before Bethlehem the Son resided in heaven with the Father, after Bethlehem He resided in a human body prepared by the Father through the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:20) in the womb of Mary! Think of it, the eternal second Person of the Godhead, i.e., the Son, left heaven and was clothed with human flesh (Philippians 2:6-9) so He could “do the will of the Father”! (Hebrews 10:7). Jesus, when He walked this earth was not a mere man, He was the eternal Sonof God clothed in human flesh! The “Word became flesh and dwelt among men!” (John 1:14)
2.The Son came to do the will of the Father! (Hebrews 10:7)  What was the “will of the Father” you ask? Jesus made the will of the Father clear when Hesaid, “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will ofHim who sent Me, and this is the will of Him who sent Me,  That of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day, and this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him upon the last day” (John 6:37-40). According to Jesus the “will of the Father” was to have a perfect sacrifice that would provide eternal life to those He gave to the Son and would be with Him eternally! If we go back to the context leading up to the conversation between the Father and the Son was that there was no sacrifice that could “take away sin” (Hebrews 10:1-4). As wonderful as the Old Testament sacrificial system was, it was lacking! Those sacrifices could never make “perfect” those who drew near, i.e., cleans completely from sin! (Hebrews 10:1-4).  All it could do was remind the worshipers that they were sinners, year-after-year (10:3)!  Thus, what the Old Testament sacrifices could not do, God did in the sending of His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin ...” (Romans 8:3).  Please notice that Jesus’ flesh was not sinful; it was in the “likeness” of sinful flesh, meaning that He had a human body but no sin! Jesus came to be that perfect sacrifice (i.e., Lamb) Who could “take away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). The writer of Hebrews makes this abundantly clear later in chapter 10. He wrote, “By this will (i.e., the Father’s) we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all ... He (Christ) having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right had of God ... for by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified!” (Hebrews 10:10-12, 14).  Remember, the Old Testament sacrifices could never perfect those who drew near (Hebrews 10:1), but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross DOES! The Father desired a sacrifice that could do far more than the Old Testament sacrifices so He sent forth
His precious Son to be the perfect sacrifice! But, there is one more truth!
3. The Son went back home! (Hebrews 10:12) After the eternal Son of God fulfilled His mission to do the “will of the Father” upon the cross, He resurrected and went home! Read again, Hebrews 10:12, “ ... He (Jesus) having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD ...!. He returned HOME! This truth was on the mind of the writer of Hebrews because in chapter one he wrote, “When He (Jesus) had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high ...” (1:3). So, there you have it, beloved — Christmas before Bethlehem! Christmas did not begin at the conception of the body of Jesus in Mary’s womb or in Bethlehem’s manger, it began in the throne room of God the Father and the Son sometime in eternity PAST! But, I’m so grateful that it was not just a conversation, but it became a reality! As a result we enjoy the benefits of so GREAT A SALVATION and can REJOICE and say with the heavenly multitude in Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the highest ...”! (Luke 2:14) As you celebrate Christmas this year take a moment to PONDER these wonderful truths!
For the Love of God’s People, Ron & Gwen Finch
Have a Wonderful CHRIST-FILLED Christmas!