Message Notes

INTRODUCTION

1. Celebrating Christmas

2. Focus of these Christmas Messages

a. The Person of the Lord Jesus Christ (Christology)

b. The Prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus

c. The Profound Significance

THE SIGN OF THE BIRTH OF THE SON OF GOD

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”   Isaish 7:14

1. The sign is given by the LORD Himself

a. A sign is to point to the coming of the Messiah

b. This is His special sign

2. The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son

a. A powerful sign

b. A miraculous sign

c. The sign of the birth of the Son of God

THE SYMBOLIC NAME OF IMMANUEL

“And shall call His name Immanuel”   Isaiah 7:14

1. Meaning of the Word: “God with us”

a. “Immanuel” means “God with us”

b. It is a symbolic name

c. It symbolises the very presence of God

2. The presence of God

a. Imbued in the name Immanuel

b. Invested in the name

3. To appreciate how symbolic the name Immanuel is

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAME “IMMANUEL”

1. In terms of salvation

a. This is the internal aspect

b. The Messiah’s actual name will be “Jesus”…“Saviour”

c. The name “Immanuel” is the Lord’s symbolic name

d. The beginning of the “Immanuel” concept is salvation

2. In terms of the life and ministry of Christ

a. This is the external aspect

b. The Lord Jesus expressed the “Immanuel” concept externally through His life and ministry

c. It is the magnificence of the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus on earth

d. The glory of the Lord Jesus

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”   John 1:14

SEEING THE “IMMANUEL” CONCEPT IN THE WORK OF THE LORD JESUS TODAY

1. The Lord Jesus came to do many things for us

a. He came to help us overcome fear

b. He came to help us with life’s many problems

c. He came to teach us about the LORD God

“No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”   John 1:18

2. Seeing the presence of God in Christ today

a. When we are sick and unwell

b. When we go through the challenges of life

c. Whatever we go through in life, we can still see the presence of God in Christ

SETTING THE FOCUS AS WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS

1. We celebrate God’s Involvement

2. We celebrate the Gift of His Son as our Saviour

3. We celebrate the profound significance of God’s Presence with us in the Lord Jesus Christ…Immanuel

4. We set our focus on Christ as the central idea of Christmas