A Sermon on Luke 2:1
“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” (ESV)
Every Christmas season a battle rages. For Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones the battle rages over the historical facts about the birth of Christ. While many deny the facts of Christmas altogether, Dr. Lloyd-Jones says there is a much more dangerous message distributed among the culture during the Christmas season. It is a message which says that it does not matter whether the Son of God actually was born in a particular location and in a particular year. Whether the birth of Christ is true or historical makes no difference at all because we can still say we have a noble teaching in the Christmas story, and it can still help people have a better life.
This psychologizing of the Christmas message, says Dr. Lloyd-Jones, sounds wonderful, but in the end it is the most hopeless message the world has ever heard. Why? Because sinful humanity is left with nothing but an exhortation to live a moral life. But the historical, biblical facts of the Christian Gospel is about what God has actually done in time through the Son of God. In this Christmas Day sermon, Dr. Lloyd-Jones expounds the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ to time, emphasizing that the Son of God was before time, manifested in time, come late in time, in the fullness of time, is himself the center of time, and will come back to end time! Listen as Dr. Lloyd-Jones battles for the true Christmas message in this sermon on Luke 2:1. MLJ Trust