Golden Verse:

"Glory to God in the highest,  And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"  Luke 2:14

"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

1. Our joy for the birth of Jesus Christ
2. Introduction about the incarnation of the Son of God

1. The significance of Incarnation: why did the Son of God take flesh and become man?
• For salvation - the penalty of sin is death, and the death of man satisfies God's justice.  The Son of God became man to die for all of us.
• For God's love
• To give us an example of how to live with God.  He taught us love, prayer, fasting, . . .
2. What was the result of the Incarnation?
• Conciliation between heaven and earth; a lot of angels started to appear on earth
3. Why Bethlehem?
• To satisfy the prophecies (Micah 5:2 and Matthew 2:5,6)
• It is the city of David.  Jesus is the son of David.
• Bethlehem means "house of bread."  Jesus is the Bread of life.
• To show us His humility: "There was no room for them in the inn."
4. The announcement to the shepherds:
• The announcement of the birth of Christ to the Jews
• Simple people
• Were awake at night - ready
• Given to them by the angels
• A message of joy
5. The announcement to the wise men:
• The announcement of the birth of Christ to the gentiles
• Jesus came for the salvation of the whole world.
• Philosophers and priests
• The star is the language that they understand.
• Forced the priests in Jerusalem to go back to their books
• Their gifts:
• Gold -  for the Kingdom of Christ
• Frankincense - for His priesthood
• Myrrh - for His suffering
• We should notice that the angels did not appear to them until they accepted God and worshipped Him.