Our scripture again is taken from 2 Corinthians, Paul's second letter to the Corinthian Christians and chapter 8 will look at verse 9. That's the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. A God richly blessed both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. One of the things that I have noticed in recent years and maybe it's it's always been there. In fact I know it has. I've just I guess have paid a little more attention to it that oftentimes when whether it's through the culture or whether it's through immature Christianity there's a lot of language or I should say in a lot of cultural expressions. We find the language of miracle associated with Christmas which and that's for good reasons because certainly the conception of Mary is a miracle. The Holy Spirit overcame her and she conceives a child through the foreshadowing or overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. But the way I usually hear the term and this is where I guess I've my ears have perked up more recently over the years is you hear people talk about maybe this is a Christmas miracle. A Christmas miracle if when you see it in films you see it in movies if there is an antagonist or an unreconciled relationship as they work through the film or the movie and it moves towards its climax people are looking for a miracle a special manifestation of divine power that people and it's become staple to talk about maybe this is a Christmas miracle. It's everything from it's a wonderful life certainly if you remember that story it's a wonderful life it's it becomes a Christmas miracle that George is is able to see his errors from the past and that all of his friends come together and save him when the bank that he is mismanaged has gone is about to go under and to keep a run from the bank all of his friends come together and people say a Christmas miracle and and there are many that are looking for a Christmas miracle. I was thinking about it and you know there is a passage in John's gospel it's really kind of an odd or peculiar passage actually and John's gospel in the fifth chapter it speaks of a particular holy season a particular holy day for the children of Israel and during this holy season people would gather at the sheep's gate and and and for the around the pool of Bethesda and many of the people that were sick and infirm they would gather there and once a year an angel would be dispatched or so the story goes because that's why it's peculiar the Bible neither confirms nor denies the legitimacy of the miracles or if any took place or of the healings that took place it simply records what people understood to be the case and what's understood to be the case is that once a year an angel would trouble the waters and if you were informed or diseased or whatever according to the selection of the angel if you would would touch the waters that the angel touched then sick people would be healed and again I don't know that I find it peculiar record there that people think that seasonally there are miracles that take place and I think perhaps that's one of the reasons people have gotten into the habit of talking about a Christmas miracle in other words and that during the Christmas season God obligates Himself to work in supernatural ways in the lives of certain individuals and it's gotten so loose my ears always perk up when I hear A because that's particular that that says that or it's indicating that that it's it's one of potentially one of many rather than the you know the is more it's more specific when A it's or I should say I said specific it's A is more it's not particular it's general and so when you speak of A Christmas miracle your Christmas miracle could be anything it could be you speaking to a relative that you haven't seen in over 20 years and they show up under that logic that a Christmas miracle this is maybe that's a Christmas miracle they showed up on on Christmas day and or they showed up on Christmas Eve that's a Christmas miracle and I hear that and and the more I hear and that's perhaps why my ears have perked up the more I hear of a Christmas miracle the more we diminish the Christmas miracle in other words the more we are looking for something to be reproduced in in our lives that have nothing to do with our sin and God's salvation the more we elevate a supernatural act in our own lives over what has actually transpired over 2000 years ago and certainly people have their own opinions about Jesus and and so forth but but the one thing they can not deny is that he was born they can't deny that and they don't deny that only a fool says oh there was no such person as Jesus of Nazareth here is the miracle of Christmas and I want to I want to look at that miracle so that we would be more careful when we talk about a Christmas miracle if you've been unemployed for five years and then all of a sudden you get a call on Christmas Eve that you've got a job don't call that a Christmas miracle it's not it's it's a dispense of it's a dispensing of God's providential blessings upon His people but I say that we to understand to understand different things that may happen in our lives that we may benefit from as we celebrate the the person of Christ or the birth of Christ it flows from the Christmas miracle the miracle of Christmas and so what I want to do tonight somewhat briefly so that we can we can have a setting for these things and so that perhaps our ears can perk up when people talk about finding lost car keys or getting promotions on their jobs and so forth instead of calling it a Christmas miracle we can find some other terminology that's less offensive to the real miracle of Christmas and so I want to do is is just sort of give a brief anatomy of what the real miracle of Christmas is all about because I've heard that and my wife likes these hallmark movies lifetime movies and stuff and I can be in the other room and all I have to do is listen to five minutes of dialogue and I can tell her what station she's watching I don't have to I can just tell they usually follow the same plot line and if I've heard that term a Christmas miracle once this advent season I've heard at 20 bazillion times so what I want to do is talk about just show the anatomy of not a Christmas miracle but the Christmas miracle and and because it's my contingent that there are not a lot of Christmas miracles okay there is one and then there are derivatives of that one so let's look at the anatomy of and here's what we discover and and pause letter and it's it's interesting it seems like such a peculiar place to talk about Christmas a Christmas Eve message pause second letter to the Corinthians and and because this letter has nothing to do with Christmas so we say but remember as we've been saying that Christmas in the substance of it should be celebrated daily and as it is understood daily then what we understand if we understand the overarching story of of of God's redeeming grace and mercy you'll find the message and the essence of Christmas throughout all of scriptures and so it shouldn't really come to us as a surprise but the backdrop of this is Paul is exhorting the Corinthians concerning giving what's interesting in this chapter is that he has he's addressing a church that at one time was doing much better than they were at this particular time and they were they were facing a lot of challenges and they had some changes some issues with Paul and because of their issues with Paul I love the way he opens this letter he says they he wants to come and visit them but because of the issues that he had some of which probably are related to the issues that he raised in first Corinthians but because of their issues with him I love the way Christians act sometimes you know they they they were basically to Paul says I'm gonna come and minister to you know by the way hold in mind Paul helped to establish this church and they said oh yeah by the way when you come before you come do you have any letters of recommendation and and Paul says are you kidding me yeah he says he says yeah I love this are you letters of recommendation you are he says my letter of recommendation I I came preaching to you Christ and you are my letters of recommendation if you know the gospel you know the gospel because God has used me to minister that gospel to you well one of the things that Paul had urged them to do in his first letter was to take up an offering for a church that was struggling and he gives instructions concerning that in chapter 16 of his first letter to raise an offering and and and again Christian folk are funny when they went because they had an issue with Paul then they wanted to reneg on their promise and so Paul says now and that's really the essence of what leads into this eighth chapter they were looking to back out on their promise because they were you know they were a little warm with with Paul at this point I should say it turned a little cool towards Paul at this point and and Paul so he opens this by reminding them of the commitment that they made and so not only does he remind them of their commitment but he reminds them of a he he actually probably suggests a smaller congregation who in a greater degree of distress had had had had far exceeded their their ability natural ability to meet these obligations and and to take take care of of other saints who were suffering at that particular time and Paul wasn't trying to shame them but what he does do is he reminds them of the correlation between their spirituality and their and their commitment and stewardship of God's gifts and so that's really what what serves as the backdrop here and so he gives them really two examples forgiving the first example we see in the earlier verses and verses one through seven where he speaks of the churches of Macedonia or excuse me yeah the churches the church of Macedonia and how they had given beyond their ability and then he uses the second example which is Jesus and it's here that he really taps into the miracle of Christmas and that's what we see here in verse nine in fact he begins in verse eight by saying I don't speak by way of command but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of these other saints and and so now he gives us in verse nine the example of Jesus and in this he really shows us the substance of what the Christmas miracle and notice what we said the Christmas miracle is all about and so here's where we begin the Christmas miracle begins with divine grace Paul says in verse nine for you know the grace of our Lord and Lord Jesus Christ I always found it interesting that in the the benediction that closes the book of 2nd Corinthians Paul gives this order of things I remember as a child hearing this benediction and you know you when you think you know stuff I like what one songwriter says that I was so much younger than that now I'm so much older than I'm so much younger than that now in other words I thought I knew more than I did when I thought I knew something and so I would hear this benediction may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the love of God and the sweet communion rest rule and abide with you hence now forever more that's actually taken from 2nd Corinthians I would hear that benediction and I would think because I've grown up in church I know that our salvation is by God the Father's grace and so I would always say wait a minute we're always told Jesus himself says greater love has no man than this than to lay down his life for a friend I have laid down my lives for you and so I said I always thought that it needed to be tweaked that it's the grace of may the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the grace of God the Father and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit rest rule and abide with you hence now and forever more but Paul doesn't put it that way and one of the reasons is because when we talk about the miracle of Christmas yes hold in mind that it is the grace of God the Father but also hold in mind that the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one and so what is true of one is true of the other and in this instance what Paul is calling attention to is the grace of Jesus himself it's interesting that in the scriptures the incarnation of Christ is shown to us from different vantage points from one vantage point it's a matter of the Father sending the Son from another vantage point it's a matter of the Son agreeing to do the will of the Father that's what's recorded in Hebrews chapter 10 but here and in fact in in Philippians 2 it's presented to us as a matter of the Son's commitment to the will of the Father in condescending for the salvation of saints so it's his humility and his obedience that singled out but in this particular passage what Paul is focusing on is not the submission of the Son in becoming incarnate for our sake it's not even it's it's not it's it's not being submissive to the the will of the Father here his focal point is on the grace that is in Jesus himself in condescending to give his life for us and so Paul begins by saying you know the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and what is the grace of Christ grace the grace of Christ is his willingness to condescend and give up so that he could give he gives up the prerogatives and we'll see that in a moment but he gives up the prerogatives of being the the the only begotten of the Father from all eternity the Lord of creation the one in whom the whole creation consists he lays aside those privileges in a gracious manner now what is grace grace is two things it is unprovoked an unmerited favor and so what what Paul is presenting here is the motive that produces the miracle of Christmas and the motive that produces the miracle of Christmas is the grace of the triumphant God it is indeed the grace of the Father who determines from all eternity whom that he would save but it is also a matter of the grace of the Son who is willingly giving up his prerogatives for sinners such as as as you and I now we indicated this on Sunday that when we really understand what grace means because what Jesus hold to mind that who we're talking about here we're talking about Jesus the second person of the Godhead and so when he looks down I know what people say well he looks down through the portals of time to see who it is that would choose him but no because if he just looks down through the portals of time you know what he sees nothing but rebels and there's nothing that's going to change that so here's what Jesus does and just to illustrate it here's what Jesus does you take the author of this passage himself who is the apostle Paul the apostle Paul was present when Stephen was stone some have even argued that the apostle may have been present even in the crucifixion of Jesus Paul not boast but he had acknowledged the fact that before he was saved he persecuted Christians as proof of his zeal for God and so when we say that the miracle of Christmas has its starting place in grace what Jesus does he came to earth to save the one who would persecute him and that's exactly what he tells Paul when he on the Damascus road he asked Paul why are you persecuting me and Paul says in essence Lord you know who and who is he persecuting he's persecuting the church and so here is the starting place of grace or the starting place of the Christmas miracle it is grace it is of unprovoked and unmerited favor that's where it begins so we don't begin with people who are okay in trying to get better but here is where the miracle begins it begins with God favoring people who have no inclination towards himself here's the second thing we see the context of this miracle the context of the miracle is seen in the two extremes we are pointed first off to the riches of Christ and of course we understand that when he speaks of the riches of Christ even though we know the Bible says that the cattle of a thousand hills belong to God but he's not speaking of physical material possessions when it speaks of the richness of Christ it simply means number one his divine position and prerogatives his divine position and prerogatives he was rich in that he is the object of unbroken praise and worship and is lacking nothing he is eternally God and as we've said before that means we know that God neither slumbers nor sleeps we know that he is he doesn't get hungry and he doesn't need to be fed and so here's we start with grace and the context of grace producing a miracle points to the status of Christ or the riches of Christ which show him lacking nothing and that's what Paul says you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who was rich in other words he lacked nothing and then on the other hand who is the object of who is the recipient of this grace so on the one hand the context is the riches of Christ and on the other hand it would be the human condition the human condition whereas Christ and all of his divine prerogatives and his position his exalted position as being the center of and center and creator of the universe is lacking nothing as we are told by Paul elsewhere that he is the ever blessed God so he is pleased in himself he is pleased in the Father and the Father is pleased in him and the Holy Spirit is pleased and all in the Father and the Son and the Father and the Son are pleased in the Holy Spirit they are the eternally blessed God and yet Jesus in that exalted state chose to do something now that has to be contrasted against the recipients of his grace and the recipients of his grace is the fallen human condition Paul doesn't use the language of our being in Poverse but certainly that's what he means when he begins with the riches of Christ and he shows the contrast to us he says he became poor and the implication is quite clear he became what we were but here's what we were and in our fallen condition all except as the writer of Hebrews says he became like us and all points except without sin so here's what it means when here's the contrast that sets up this this this this this miracle of Christmas we have the eternally blessed God who needs nothing who is lacking nothing and yet the recipient of this grace are those who lack everything if Jesus was rich then the human condition is spiritually and morally bankrupt and so here's the the parties involved in this miracle the almighty all knowing self-sufficient eternally internally blessed God and then you have the morally and spiritually corrupt human condition and here's the miracle brothers and sisters the miracle is not just that he who is eternal God became man but the way Paul expresses it here is that he became poor now we could describe that or explain that in a number of ways and some have have shied away from the impover state of Jesus that that he was not a wealthy man and and certainly it it would include that that he was not a wealthy man that's that's why the question is raised later in his earthly ministry can anything good come out of Nazareth others wanted to know where where did you go to synagogue we didn't see you in school where did you graduate from we don't know who you are and so so certainly when it speaks of him becoming poor it means that he takes on as the right as Paul says in Philippians he became of no reputation there was there was nothing outstanding about him and and and we do see evidence that that he was not a lavish man he was not wealthy no matter how much people tried to now repaint and revisit history and make him richer than he was in his earthly ministry he still cried out when people wanted to follow him the foxes have holes and the birds have nest but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head and yet him becoming poor means more than that it means more than him not having money him becoming poor it means that he who was the eternally blessed God self-sufficient lacking in nothing never sleeping knowing everything every place at all time condescends and takes on a finite human body where he is vulnerable to not only physical abuse but he's vulnerable to all of the limitations of human flesh brothers and sisters even without sin human flesh is still finite it's not corrupt but it's finite and so what Jesus does in his incarnation and here's part of the miracle that the eternal God takes on human flesh and condescends to be limited but here's the real Christmas miracle not just that he who is the eternally blessed God lays aside the prerogatives and position that goes with him being divine but here is indeed the miracle of Christmas that we through his poverty would become rich the language that Paul uses here again speaks of more than material possessions here is what Paul is saying in essence he is saying in essence that Christ here's where the miracle begins it begins with grace God taking favor God the son having favor that is unprovoked and unmerited on people who are undeserving and what he does is he condescends and he becomes impoverished so to speak he takes on all of the limitations of human flesh so that those who are bound in the flesh with two extra caveats the one is that Jesus was in the flesh but without sin we are in the flesh and sinful and here's what Jesus has done he has come and the other additional caveat is not only are we sinful but we're condemned we we come here with the sentence of death upon us the Christmas miracle is that Jesus became poor and through that exchange we have become rich and let me look at one other statement that Paul makes about this actually uses uses the same point of reference and this is the logic that that he casts forward or that he speaks of here flesh is out really in chapter 8 but in chapter 4 he says this in chapter 4 beginning in verse in chapter 4 beginning in verse 6 he says for it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness now what Paul is referencing here is the creation of the earth and no Christian would deny that the creation itself was a miracle and so Paul is using the same language and he says for it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shown in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ here's where we become rich faith in Jesus does not mean that your bank account necessarily changes but faith in Jesus means that you are no longer spiritually and morally bankrupt it means that you now have all of the righteousness that God has required but more importantly you have fellowship with God and you have you have access to the glory of the the the glory of the Father as it is reflected in the sun so here is the miracle of Christmas that sinners are awakened and enriched by the birth of a baby over 2,000 years ago now here's what Paul suggests here in this eighth chapter because to show that this is not just a spiritual thing I'm just gonna go home I'm happy in the Lord he's basically saying that you're being rich in Christ is a transforming reality and the challenge that he's placing among the Corinthians is that they would revisit their attitudes about their own possessions and about the needs of these other saints in light of the riches that they possess in Jesus Christ brothers and sisters as we leave this place we will go home to a variety of circumstances you will go home some will go home to broken home some will go home to discord some will go home to to broken dreams and frustrations and some will go home to challenges that you don't even have time to to you you you're putting them off until next week to you even get to them but here's what I want you to know that is if your faith is in Jesus brothers and sisters you are rich you are rich in God's grace because his poverty has been given in exchange or his his poverty has given it been given exchange for your poverty so that the riches that he laid aside are the riches that he has bestowed upon us miracle of Christmas is it begins with God's grace in Christ it is extended it's shown in the context of who it is that was in that manger the miracle itself is that we are changed we are transformed and that we become new creatures not from doing but from receiving that gift and what God has done in our lives and that we are able to rejoice and celebrate even celebrate the fact that Jesus has come is nothing short of him speaking light out of darkness so when we see the Savior I think of that song you know some call him this but but I call him Jesus see when we speak of Jesus as being Emmanuel and we do not try to reinvent him and make him our our our therapist we don't try to make him our formula we don't try to make him our life coach here's the miracle of Christmas is that we can see in a manger to a child born to a woman who has known no man all of the solutions to our problems with God that's why I like what what the brother says in Luke's gospel he says Lord I can depart in peace now because I have seen your salvation the miracle of Christmas it's not a whole bunch of miracles I don't pray that you have a miracle of Christmas my prayer for all people is twofold one if you are a Christian that you would realize the miracle of the riches that you have in Christ and two if you're not a Christian that before it's everlasting too late that God would open your eyes so that you would see in the face of his son all that is necessary for life and godliness the miracle not a miracle the miracle is that God gave his son and in the giving of his son that son has given us life and that life is eternal and it's eternal in that there is nothing now that can turn the favor of the father away from us because what the son loves the father loves and so Paul begins this by telling us of the grace of Jesus and so the love and commitment of the father is where the grace of the son is the miracle is that we are transformed from enemies to children and from children to heirs and if heirs then we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ amen let's pray father we thank you for this day that you have blessed us to see and for guiding our feats to this place where we would once again contemplate the depths of your mercies towards us in the gift of your son as we prepare to go our separate ways we go to different homes we have family and friends some will not even have that but whatever our circumstance is we pray that we would not feel pressured by what we have or don't have in order to rejoice in this season those that you have called to your son we pray that we would rejoice in the riches that we possess and those who will celebrate to their hearts content but do not know your son we pray that before it's everlasting too late we they would be awakened to the fact that they are impoverished without him so thank you for this time thank you for the celebration of the gift of Jesus and in him the gift of life we ask all of these things in Christ name amen